THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 

GIFT  OF 

Clark  J.  Milliron 


SELF-GOVERNMENT 
IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 


©  Harris  <t  Ewing 

THE  LATE  REPRESENTATIVE  WILLIAM  ATKINSON  JONES  OF  VIRGINIA 

Author  of  the  Jones  Law,  and  a  lifetime  friend  of  the  Filipino  people.    A  monument  is  being 
erected  to  his  memory  in  Manila,  and  he  has  become  one  of  the  immortals  of  the  Philippines 


SELF-GOVERNMENT 
IN  THE   PHILIPPINES 


BY 

MAXIMO  M.  KALAW 

Chief  of  the  Department  of  Political  Science,  University 

of  the  Philippines,  Secretary  of  the  Philippine 

Mission  to  the  United  States,  author 

"The  Case  for  the  Filipinos" 


ILLUSTRATED  WITH 
PHOTOGRAPHS 


NEW  YORK 

THE  CENTURY  CO. 

1919 


Copyright,  1919,  by 
THE  CENTUBY  Co. 

Published,  June,  1919 


DS 


TO 

THE  FOUNDERS  OF  PHILIPPINE 
NATIONALITY 

WHOSE  AIMS  AND  IDEALS 
WE  HAVE  STRIVEN  TO  ACCOMPLISH 


825842 


Although  America's  policy  in  the  Philippines 
has  always  been  founded  on  the  extension  of 
self-government  to  the  people,  the  Filipino 
people  did  not  exercise  any  decisive  control  in 
the  public  affairs  of  their  country  until  1913, 
when  they  were  given  a  majority  in  the  upper 
house,  or  Philippine  Commission,  besides  the 
control  they  had  of  the  lower  house,  or  As- 
sembly. Again,  a  far  greater  step  toward 
autonomy  and  independence  was  taken  in  1916, 
when  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  passed 
the  Jones  Law,  or  Philippine  Autonomy  Act, 
pledging  the  people  of  the  United  States  to 
recognize  the  independence  of  the  Philippines 
"  as  soon  as  a  stable  government  can  be  estab- 
lished therein  "  and  giving  the  Filipino  people, 
as  a  preparation  for  that  independence,  the  larg- 
est amount  of  autonomy  compatible  with  the 
exercise  of  the  rights  of  American  sovereignty. 

Nearly  six  years  have  elapsed  since  the 
Filipino  people  were  given  control  of  the  two 


viii  PREFACE 

houses  of  legislature,  and  three  years  since  the 
American  Congress  passed  the  Jones  Law. 
Convinced  that  the  condition  imposed  by  the 
American  people  precedent  to  the  granting  of  in- 
dependence is  already  fulfilled,  the  Philippine 
Legislature  sent  a  Special  Mission  to  the  United 
States  to  certify  the  fact  and  to  urge  the  ful- 
fillment of  the  American  pledge. 

At  this  juncture,  when  the  problems  of 
Philippine  independence  may  be  finally  ad- 
justed, it  is  desirable  to  place  before  the  public 
a  record  of  what  the  Filipino  people  have  done 
since  the  establishment  of  Philippine  autonomy, 
and  the  reasons  which  impel  them  as  a  people  to 
demand  their  separation  from  the  United  States. 
It  is  with  this  end  in  view  that  the  following 
chapters  are  written. 

In  the  preparation  of  this  volume,  the  writer 
has  been  under  special  obligation  to  officials  and 
citizens  of  the  Philippines,  chief  among  whom 
are  the  Honorable  Manuel  L.  Quezon,  President 
of  the  Philippine  Senate  and  Chairman  of  the 
Philippine  Mission  to  the  United  States,  who  has 
kindly  consented  to  write  an  introduction;  the 
Honorable  Sergio  Osmena,  Speaker  of  the  Phil- 
ippine House  of  Representatives  and  Vice-Presi- 


PREFACE  ix 

dent  of  the  Council  of  State,  who  has  really  in- 
spired the  writer  to  undertake  the  work;  the 
Honorable  Rafael  Palma,  Secretary  of  the  Inte- 
rior and  Vice-Ch airman  of  the  Philippine  Mis- 
sion to  the  United  States,  who  has  placed  several 
memorandums  and  valuable  materials  at  the  dis- 
posal of  the  writer;  the  Honorable  Dionisio 
Jakosalem,  Secretary  of  Commerce  and  Commu- 
nications and  member  of  the  Philippine  Mission, 
who  has  furnished  the  writer  with  data  and  ma- 
terials on  the  commerce  of  the  Philippines;  the 
Honorable  Clyde  H.  Tavenner,  formerly  Member 
of  Congress  from  Illinois;  the  Honorable  Jaime 
C.  de  Veyra,  Resident  Commissioner  from  the 
Philippines  and  ex-officio  member  of  the  Philip- 
pine Mission;  the  Honorable  Miguel  Unson,  Un- 
der Secretary  of  Finance ;  Dr.  W.  W.  Marquardt, 
Director  of  Education,  who  has  given  the  writer 
materials  on  education;  Mr.  Jose  Abad  Santos, 
special  attorney  for  the  Philippine  National 
Bank  and  member  of  the  Philippine  Mission, 
who  has  encouraged  the  writer  with  suggestions ; 
Professor  Conrado  Benitez,  Dean  and  Professor 
of  Economics,  University  of  the  Philippines,  and 
member  of  the  Philippine  Mission;  Mr.  Antonio 
de  las  Alas,  Assistant  Chief,  Executive  Bureau ; 


i  PREFACE 

Dean  Jorge  Bocobo,  Dean  of  the  College  of  Law, 
University  of  the  Philippines,  and  member  of  the 
Philippine  Mission;  and  Dr.  Louis  F.  Snow, 
Chief  of  the  Department  of  English,  University 
of  the  Philippines. 

M.  M.  K. 


INTRODUCTION 

A  more  timely  book  on  the  Philippines  could 
not  have  been  written.  The  United  States  has 
promised  to  grant  independence  to  the  Philip- 
pines as  soon  as  a  stable  government  can  be 
established  therein.  The  Filipino  people  are 
now  urging  the  redemption  of  that  promise  on 
the  ground  that  they  have  already  fulfilled  the 
condition  thus  imposed. 

At  this  juncture,  Professor  Kalaw's  book 
should  prove  of  commanding  interest.  He  de- 
scribes the  establishment  and  organization  of 
the  new  government  under  Filipino  control,  re- 
views the  accomplishments  of  that  government, 
and  portrays  the  possibilities  of  an  independent 
Philippines.  As  a  Filipino,  he  is  naturally 
biased  in  favor  of  his  people,  but  in  no  instance 
has  he  allowed  his  patriotism  to  distort  his 
facts. 

There  are  perhaps  very  few  men  in  the  Philip- 
pines who  can  speak  with  as  much  intimate  and 
comprehensive  knowledge  of  the  subject  as  the 


xii  INTRODUCTION 

author.  He  has  long  been  a  deep  student  of  the 
Philippine  question.  In  the  present  book,  he 
takes  up  the  subject  where  he  left  it  in  "  The 
Case  for  the  Filipinos "  in  1916.  I  sincerely 
hope  that  he  will  very  soon  be  writing  a  third 
volume  entitled  "  The  Philippine  Kepublic." 

MANUEL  L.  QUEZON. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTEE  PAGE 

I    OUR  COVENANT  WITH  AMERICA  .     •.       3 

A  resume"  of  Filipino-American  relations  up 
to  the  passage  of  the  Jones  Law. 

II    THE  ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  NEW  GOVERN- 
MENT       18 

Governmental  organization  under  the  Jones 
Law  —  The  Cabinet  and  Council  of  State  —  The 
Governor-General  —  Nature  of  the  New  Govern- 
ment —  Extent  of  Philippine  Autonomy. 

III  THE  PHILIPPINE  BUDGET  SYSTEM  ...     44 

The  establishment  of  a  scientific  system  of 
government  finance  —  Excellent  conditions  of 
the  public  purse. 

IV  FILIPINO  LOYALTY  DURING  THE  WAR  .     .     59 

Filipino  participation  —  Adherence  to  Ameri- 
can ideals  —  The  destroyer  and  submarine  — 
Liberty  Bonds  —  The  offer  of  25,000  men  — 
The  inexcusable  delay  in  its  organization  — 
Peace  and  order  in  the  Philippines  during  the 
war  —  President  Wilson's  official  recognition  of 
Filipino  cooperation. 

V    ECOMOMIC  DEVELOPMENT 76 

False  prophesies  about  our  economic  devel- 
opment —  Public  works  —  Growth  of  commerce 

—  Unprecedented  increase  of  business  activities 

—  American  capital. 

VI    PROGRESS  OF  LOCAL  GOVERNMENT  ...     92 

Extension  of  autonomy  to  municipal  and 
provincial  governments  —  Local  government  a 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

VII    OUR  TREATMENT  OP  THE  NON-CHRISTIAN 

TRIBES 109 

The  policy  of  the  government  —  Attraction 
and  assimilation  —  Growth  of  schools  —  Filipino 
teachers,  doctors  and  nurses  —  The  Public 
Works  program  —  Unparalleled  treatment  of 
non-Christian  tribes. 

VIII    A  STABLE  GOVERNMENT  ESTABLISHED     .  129 

Meaning  of  "  stable  government " —  Ameri- 
can recognition  of  new  states  —  Establishment 
of  a  "  stable  government "  in  Cuba  —  The  ful- 
fillment of  the  condition  imposed  by  the  Jones 
Law  —  The  Declaration  of  Purposes  of  the 
Philippine  Congress  —  A  stable  government  es- 
tablished in  the  Philippines  —  Statements  by 
Governor-General  Harrison  and  Acting  Governor 
Yeater. 

IX    THE  PROMISE  OF  THE  PHILIPPINES     .      .  158 

The  Philippines  as  an  Oriental  country  —  Ad- 
vantages of  her  geographical  situation  —  Her 
relations  with  Japan  —  Her  r6le  as  democracy's 
vanguard  in  Asia  —  Future  relations  with  the 
United  States. 

APPENDICES 

A    The  preamble  to  the  Jones  Law    .     .      .  181 
B    The  Declaration  of  Purposes  by  the  Phil- 
ippine Legislature 183 

C  Instructions  of  the  Commission  of  Inde- 
pendence to  the  Philippine  Mission  to 
the  United  States 196 

INDEX  .  203 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAOB 

The  Late  Representative  William  Atkinson  Jones 

of  Virginia Frontispiece 

The  First  Falls  of  the  Pagsanjan 4 

The  Monument  of  Padre  Miguel  de  Benavides  .  5 
The    First    Philippine    Assembly,    Inaugurated 

1907        12 

The  Honorable  Francis  Burton  Harrison  ...  13 

Jose  Rizal 24 

A  Glimpse  of  Portion  of  old  Manila    ....  25 

Honorable  Sergio  Osmena 32 

Honorable  Cayetano  Arellano 33 

The  Philippine  Cabinet 48 

Palico  River  Bridge  on  Batangas-Nasugbu  Road  .  49 

The  Philippine  Senate 56 

Liberty  Loan  Parade,  Manila 57 

Battalion  Ceremonies,  Philippine  National  Guard  68 

Modern  Method  of  Plowing  Land  for  Sugar  Cane 

Production  in  the  Philippines 68 

Honorable  Jaime  C.  de  Veyra 69 

Honorable  Teodoro  R.  Yangco 69 

Shipping  Scene  in  the  Pasig  River     ....  76 

Vaughan    Bridge,    San    Juan    River,    Calamba, 

Laguna 77 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

The  Paco  Market,  Manila 80 

The    Capitol   Building   of   the   Province   of   La 
Laguna 81 

The  Pangasinan  Capitol  Building 96 

Marabural  Bridge,  Cagayan  Province  ...  97 
A  Class  in  a  Public  School  of  the  Philippines  .  .  104 

Ifugao  Igorrot  Rice  Terraces 105 

Harrison  Bridge 120 

Ayuntamiento  Building,  Manila 121 

The  Honorable  Manuel  L.  Quezon  ....  136 
The  Philippine  Mission  to  the  United  States  .  .  137 
University  Hall,  University  of  the  Philippines  .  152 
Rafts  of  Cocoanuts 153 

A  View  from  One  of  the  16  Provincial  Trade 
Schools 168 

The  Machine  Shop,  School  of  Arts  and  Trades, 
Manila 168 

The  Famous  Luneta,  of  Manila 169 


SELF-GOVERNMENT  IN  THE 
PHILIPPINES 


SELF-GOVERNMENT  IN 
THE  PHILIPPINES 

CHAPTER  I 

OUR  COVENANT   WITH   AMERICA 

THE  Jones  Law,  or  Philippine  Autonomy 
Act,  passed  by  the  American  Congress  on 
August  29, 1916,  marked  a  new  era  in  the  Philip- 
pines and  established  a  new  basis  for  Filipino- 
American  relationship.  Hitherto,  the  Amer- 
ican government  in  the  Islands  had  rested  on 
force  and  not  on  the  consent  of  the  Filipino 
people.  It  is  with  reluctance  that  we  shall  have 
to  refer  to  the  rather  unpleasant  past,  not  with 
the  view  of  renewing  old  misunderstanding, 
but  in  order  to  better  appreciate  the  present 
friendly  and  cordial  relations  between  the  Amer- 
ican and  Filipino  peoples.  The  Treaty  of  Paris 
which  transferred  the  Philippines  to  the  United 
States  was  secured,  not  only  without  the  con- 
sent of  the  Filipino  people,  but  in  defiance  of 
their  opposition.  During  the  negotiation  of 


4         SELF-GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

that  treaty,  the  Philippine  Republic  sent  an  of- 
ficial representative  to  Paris  to  express  the 
views  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  Islands  the  fate 
of  which  was  being  so  momentously  decided. 
This  official  was  not  even  given  a  hearing  at  the 
Peace  Conference. 

After  the  signing  of  the  treaty,  he  went  to 
America,  but  the  door  of  the  Washington  gov- 
ernment was  equally  closed  against  him.  After 
the  opening  of  hostilities  between  the  Amer- 
ican and  Filipino  forces,  the  Filipinos  asked 
for  a  cessation,  suggesting  that  conferences  be 
held  by  representatives  of  both  the  American 
and  Filipino  peoples  to  deal  with  the  future 
political  relations  between  the  two  countries, 
but  the  plan  was  rejected.  The  American 
military  commander  replied  that  once  the  fight 
had  started  it  had  to  continue  to  the  bitter 
end.  President  McKinley,  who  was,  unfortu- 
nately, misinformed  on  Philippine  conditions, 
told  the  American  nation  that  it  was  not  a 
Filipino  people  that  was  opposing  American 
rule,  but  only  one  of  the  eighty  tribes  inhabiting 
the  Islands. 

From  the  very  beginning  of  the  discussion  of 
the  Philippine  question,  the  retentionists  have 
endeavored  to  show  that  the  majority  of  the  Fili- 


THE  FIRST  FALLS  OF  THE  PAGSANJAN 


THE  MONUMENT  OF  PADRE  MIGUEL  DE  BENAVIDES 

The  founder  of  Santo  Tomas  University.    This  monument  stands  in  University  Plaza 

de  Santo  Tomas,  Manila.    Santo  Tomas  is  older  than  Harvard  University 


OUR  COVENANT  WITH  AMERICA  5 

pino  people  were  on  their  side,  for  they  dared  not 
contradict  the  principle  that  wherever  the  Amer- 
ican flag  flies,  there  the  wishes  of  the  majority 
must  be  respected.  President  McKinley  was 
loudest  in  his  assurance  to  his  people  that  his 
manifestos  and  the  forcible  extension  of  Amer- 
ican sovereignty  were  welcomed  by  the  majority 
of  the  Filipino  people.  After  nearly  a  year  of 
constant  fighting,  when  most  American  officials 
had  confessed  that  they  had  undervalued  the  de- 
termination and  tenacity  of  the  Filipino  insur- 
gents and  when  he  himself  had  already  sent  about 
80,000  soldiers  to  the  Islands,  he  still  asserted 
that  the  majority  of  the  Filipino  people  favored 
American  rule.  "  I  had  reason  to  believe,"  he 
said  in  his  message  of  December,  1899,  "and  I 
still  believe  that  this  transfer  of  sovereignty  was 
in  accordance  with  the  wishes  and  the  aspira- 
tions of  the  great  masses  of  the  Filipino  people." 
In  answer  to  the  insistent  demands  of  the 
Democrats  during  the  election  of  1900  that  the 
Philippines  should  be  allowed  to  establish  a 
stable  government  and  then  be  given  their  in- 
dependence and  that  if  they  were  not  able  to 
protect  themselves  from  foreign  aggression  that 
American  protection  be  extended  them,  Presi- 
dent McKinley  replied:  "The  American  people 


6         SELF-GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

are  asked  by  our  opponents  to  yield  the  sover- 
eignty of  the  United  States  in  the  Philippines 
to  a  small  fraction  of  the  population,  a  single 
tribe  out  of  eighty  or  more  inhabiting  the  archi- 
pelago, a  fraction  which  wantonly  attacked  the 
American  troops  in  Manila  while  in  rightful 
possession  under  the  protocol  with  Spain  await- 
ing the  ratification  of  the  treaty  of  peace  by 
the  Senate,  and  which  has  since  been  in  active, 
open  rebellion  against  the  United  States.  We 
are  asked  to  transfer  our  sovereignty  to  a  small 
minority  in  the  Islands  without  consulting  the 
majority  and  to  abandon  the  largest  portion  of 
the  population,  which  has  been  loyal  to  us,  to 
the  cruelties  of  the  guerrilla  insurgent  bands. 
More  than  this,  we  are  asked  to  protect  this 
minority  in  establishing  a  government,  and  to 
this  end  repress  all  opposition  of  the  majority. 
We  are  required  to  set  up  a  stable  government 
in  the  interests  of  those  who  have  assailed  our 
sovereignty  and  fired  upon  our  soldiers,  and 
then  maintain  it  at  any  cost  or  sacrifice  against 
its  enemies  within  and  against  those  having  am- 
bitious designs  from  without." 

While  President  McKinley  was  thus  proclaim- 
ing to  the  American  people  that  American 
sovereignty  was  being  joyfully  received  by  the 


OUR  COVENANT  WITH  AMERICA  7 

majority  of  the  Filipinos,  Mr.  Roosevelt,  the 
vice-presidential  nominee,  on  the  other  hand,  was 
drawing  graphic  pictures  of  Filipino  civiliza- 
tion. "  The  reasoning  which  justifies  our  hav- 
ing made  war  against  Sitting  Bull,"  he  said, 
"  also  justifies  our  having  checked  the  outbreak 
of  Aguinaldo  and  his  followers,  directed,  as  they 
were,  against  Filipino  and  American  alike.  .  .  . 
To  grant  self-government  to  Luzon  under 
Aguinaldo  would  be  like  granting  self-govern- 
ment to  an  Apache  reservation  under  some  local 
chief."  These  words  were  not  made  on  the  mere 
spur  of  the  moment  at  some  political  mass  meet- 
ing. They  are  to  be  found  verbatim  in  Mr. 
Roosevelt's  carefully  prepared  letter  of  accept- 
ance of  his  nomination  as  Vice-President. 

During  the  ratification  of  the  Treaty  of  Paris 
in  the  Senate,  Congress  refused  to  disclose  its 
purpose  towards  the  Islands  because  such  would 
be  "giving  bonds  to  Spain  "  on  a  matter  that  was 
"  wholly  their  own  to  decide  "  and  not  Europe's. 
The  ratification  of  the  treaty  concluded,  at- 
tempts were  again  made  to  secure  a  definite 
declaration  of  policy  on  which  to  base  an  equi- 
table Filipino-American  relationship.  Unfortu- 
nately the  Filipino-American  War  had  broken 
out  and  this  afforded  a  new  excuse  for  the  re- 


8         SELF-GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

tentionists.  "  We  will  not  tell  the  Filipinos 
what  we  want  to  do  with  them  until  they  lay 
down  their  arms,"  wras  the  argument  they  then 
advanced.  Unconditional  surrender  was  asked 
of  the  Filipinos  in  arms.  Sheer  exhaustion  was 
the  only  thing,  however,  which  brought  about 
such  unconditional  surrender  and  complete 
peace. 

With  the  laying  down  of  their  arms  the 
Filipinos  did  not  thereby  cease  their  protest 
against  American  sovereignty.  The  work  of 
emancipation  was  renewed  with  the  implements 
of  peace.  The  national  spirit  that  had  animated 
them  on  the  battle-field  was  soon  reawakened; 
and  the  political  party  that  had  advocated  per- 
manent annexation  was  relegated  to  oblivion. 
In  1902  Congress  took  up  the  question  of  estab- 
lishing civil  government,  and  once  again  at- 
tempts were  made  to  bring  about  a  statement 
of  policy,  but  to  no  avail.  The  law  that  was 
passed  in  that  year  was  merely  "  an  act  tempo- 
rarily to  provide  for  the  administration  of  the 
affairs  of  civil  government  in  the  Philippine  Is- 
lands." It  was  temporarily  imposed  upon  us  for 
fourteen  years. 

The  Filipino  people  then  carried  on  a  persist- 
ent but  peaceful  campaign,  petitioning  the 


American  people  to  recognize  their  right  to  in- 
dependence and  to  define  their  ultimate  political 
status;  but  no  such  definition  of  policy  was 
forthcoming.  The  issue  was  never  squarely  met 
by  the  only  authoritative  body  which  could  de- 
cide it,  the  American  Congress.  By  virtue  of 
the  Organic  Act  of  1902  the  people  of  the  Philip- 
pines were  allowed  to  send  two  Resident  Com- 
missioners to  Washington.  Everybody  knows 
what  the  work  of  these  representatives  has  been. 
They  became  the  mouthpiece  of  Filipino  aspira- 
tions for  independence.  They  told  the  Amer- 
ican people  that  the  Filipinos  did  not  want  to 
remain  under  American  sovereignty,  that  they 
desired  to  establish  a  government  of  their  own 
which  would  be  more  satisfactory  to  them  than 
any  American  government  could  be.  They  fur- 
ther told  them  that  American  retention  of  the 
Philippines  was  a  continuous  violation  of  the 
American  principle  that  all  governments  derive 
their  just  powers  from  the  consent  of  the  gov- 
erned. 

No  other  position  could  have  been  taken  by 
the  Filipino  people  compatible  with  their  dignity 
as  a  people  than  that  of  carrying  on  an  inde- 
pendence campaign  and  reasserting  their  rights 
as  a  nation.  No  more  effective  claim  to  the  just 


10       SELF-GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

consideration  of  the  world  could  have  been 
brought  than  their  solemn  protest  against  the 
continuation  of  American  sovereignty  in  the  Is- 
lands in  spite  of  the  benefits  they  were  deriving 
from  such  an  occupation.  Had  they  been  a  mere 
conglomeration  of  savage  tribes  devoid  of  any 
national  consciousness,  how  easily  could  they 
have  accepted  American  rule,  forgotten  their 
forcible  subjugation,  and  borne  in  mind  only 
the  material  and  social  improvements  brought 
about  under  American  occupation!  For  the 
very  reason  that  they  are  a  people  jealous  of 
their  national  honor  and  rights,  they  failed  to 
be  satisfied  with  the  benevolent  enterprises  of 
the  American  Government;  they  saw  behind  all 
exterior  manifestations  the  baffling  of  their  na- 
tional aspiration,  the  usurpation  of  their  right 
to  an  independent  existence.  Such  a  position 
undoubtedly  helped  the  American  people  to  see 
the  wrong  in  buying  sovereignty  and  forcibly 
imposing  it  over  an  unwilling  people. 

Let  it  be  said,  however,  in  justice  to  those  who 
are  responsible  for  the  acquisition  of  the  Philip- 
pines that,  in  spite  of  the  lack  of  mutual  under- 
standing between  the  American  and  Filipino 
peoples  which  existed  for  many  years  and  the 
failure  to  recognize  the  right  of  the  Philippines 


OUR  COVENANT  WITH  AMERICA  11 

to  independence,  the  policy  of  extending  step  by 
step  the  governmental  powers  to  the  Filipino 
people  was  adopted  with  the  welfare  of  the 
people  as  the  sole  end  in  view.  Even  before  the 
complete  restoration  of  peace  schools  were  es- 
tablished, public  improvements  were  undertaken, 
and  sanitary  measures  adopted  for  the  up-build- 
ing of  the  Filipino  race.  Freedom  of  speech,  of 
the  press  and  of  thought  were  declared  to  be  in- 
violable rules,  and  thus  the  American  Govern- 
ment, instead  of  stifling  the  political  aspirations 
of  the  people  and  making  them  forget  their  idea 
of  independence,  or  compelling  them  to  keep  it 
within  their  breast,  has  given  them  a  greater 
consciousness  of  kind,  has  united  them  into  a 
more  responsive  whole,  and  has  encouraged  them 
to  demand  with  greater  insistence  an  independ- 
ent national  existence.  As  soon  as  civil  govern- 
ment could  be  established  in  the  Islands  Presi- 
dent McKinley  made  it  the  fundamental  aim  of 
the  American  Government  "  to  improve  the  condi- 
tion of  the  inhabitants,  secure  them  peace,  lib- 
erty, and  the  pursuit  of  their  highest  good." 

President  McKinley's  governmental  policy 
was  later  on  interpreted  by  Mr.  Taft  as  a  policy 
which  "  must,  logically,  reduce  and  finally  end  the 
sovereignty  of  the  United  States."  The  Repub- 


12       SELF-GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

lican  leaders,  after  the  death  of  President  Mc- 
Kinley,  openly  stated  that  the  American  pur- 
pose toward  the  Philippines  unequivocally  con- 
templated the  political  separation  of  the  Islands. 
Mr.  Boot,  at  the  Republican  Convention  of  1904, 
suggested  that  the  Philippines  in  due  time  might 
have  the  same  status  as  Cuba.  President  Roose- 
velt in  1908  hoped  that  within  a  generation  the 
Filipinos  could  decide  for  themselves  "whether 
it  is  well  for  them  to  become  independent  or  to 
continue  under  the  protection  of  the  United 
States."  Mr.  Taft,  who  implanted  civil  govern- 
ment in  the  Philippines,  was  even  more  explicit 
in  his  promises  to  the  Filipino  people.  As  Sec- 
retary of  War  he  said  that  "  when  the  Filipino 
people,  as  a  whole,  show  themselves  reasonably 
fit  to  conduct  a  popular  self-government,  main- 
taining law  and  order  and  offering  equal  protec- 
tion of  the  laws  and  civil  rights  to  rich  and  poor, 
and  desire  complete  independence  of  the  United 
States,  they  shall  be  given  it."  These  statements 
by  Mr.  Taft  while  Secretary  of  War  were  con- 
firmed by  him  as  President  of  the  United  States 
when  in  an  official  message  to  Congress  he  said : 
"  We  should  endeavor  to  secure  for  the  Filipinos 
economic  independence  and  to  fit  them  for  com- 
plete self-government,  with  the  power  to  decide 


Photograph  by  International  Film  Service 

THE  HONORABLE  FRANCIS  BURTON  HARRISON 

Governor-General  of  the  Philippines  since  1913,  under  whose  administration 
practical  self-government  has  been  established  in  the  Islands 


13 

eventually,  according  to  their  own  largest  good, 
whether  such  self-government  shall  be  accom- 
panied by  independence." 

These  statements  of  responsible  executive  of- 
ficials of  the  American  Government  were  very 
gratifying  to  the  Filipinos ;  but,  as  they  were  not 
satisfied  to  wait  a  generation  for  independence, 
no  full  and  complete  understanding  was  obtained 
between  the  two  peoples.  Besides,  these  prom- 
ises were  merely  statements  of  executive  officials 
which  must  be  ratified  by  the  American  Congress 
before  they  could  be  made  a  real  pledge  of  the 
American  people  to  the  Filipino  people. 

President  Wilson  came  nearer  securing  the 
complete  understanding  with  the  Filipino  people. 
Soon  after  he  was  installed  in  office  he  appointed 
a  majority  of  Filipinos  in  the  upper  house  of  the 
legislature,  thus  giving  them  almost  complete 
domestic  autonomy,  coupled  with  the  definite 
assurance  that  the  step  was  taken  "  with  a  view 
to  the  ultimate  independence  of  the  Islands  and 
as  preparation  for  that  independence."  "  By 
their  counsel  and  experience  rather  than  by  our 
own,"  says  President  Wilson,  "  we  shall  learn 
how  best  to  serve  them  and  how  soon  it  will  be 
possible  to  withdraw  our  supervision." 

The  complete   understanding  which   brought 


14       SELF-GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

about  the  most  friendly  relations  between  the 
two  peoples  came  in  the  shape  of  the  Jones  Law, 
or  Philippine  Autonomy  Act.  The  Jones  Law 
in  its  preamble  declared  that  "it  is,  as  it  has 
always  been,  the  purpose  of  the  people  of  the 
United  States  to  withdraw  their  sovereignty 
over  the  Philippine  Islands  and  to  recognize 
their  independence  as  soon  as  a  stable  govern- 
ment can  be  established  therein/'  It  was  not  a 
Democratic  measure  alone  passed  b}7  a  Demo- 
cratic majority.  It  is  true  that  in  1914  when 
the  bill  was  first  introduced,  the  Republicans 
were  opposed  to  the  preamble  containing  the 
promise  of  independence,  although  they  were  in 
favor  of  the  legislative  features  of  the  bill.  But 
in  1916  when  a  strong  movement  was  initiated 
in  the  United  States  for  the  passage  of  a  more 
radical  measure,  the  so-called  Clarke  amend- 
ment, the  Republicans  also  advanced  their  posi- 
tion and  advocated  a  more  liberal  measure  for 
the  Philippines.  They  stated  that  they  would 
accept  the  Jones  bill  introduced  in  1914  which 
is  practically  the  present  Jones  Act,  only  with 
more  liberal  provisions.  In  dissenting  from  the 
position  of  the  majority  in  the  House  Insular 
Committee  on  the  Clarke  amendment,  the  Re- 
publicans on  April  12,  1916,  said  that  they  "  en- 


OUR  COVENANT  WITH  AMERICA  15 

tirely  agree  with  the  majority  that  the  Philip- 
pines should  be  given  a  new  fundamental  law 
granting  to  the  people  a  larger  measure  of  self- 
government.  They  would  even  support  the 
Jones  bill  with  the  preamble  as  a  substitute 
for  the  Senate  bill  with  the  Clarke  amendment." 

In  pursuance  of  such  an  attitude  the  Jones 
bill  in  exactly  the  same  manner  in  which  it 
passed  that  House  in  1914  was  repassed  prac- 
tically by  unanimous  vote.  As  is  commonly 
known,  the  Senate  had  more  radical  tendencies 
toward  the  Philippines,  for  it  had  passed  the 
Clarke  amendment.  The  final  Conference  re- 
port was  adopted  by  the  two  Houses  practically 
without  opposition,  and  thus  we  have  the  Jones 
Act  of  today.  It  is  a  measure  approved  by  Re- 
publicans and  Democrats  alike. 

The  Jones  Law  had,  therefore,  the  sanction  of 
the  entire  American  people  as  represented  by 
their  accredited  representatives  in  Congress  o*n 
the  one  hand  and  of  the  Filipino  people  on  the 
other.  For  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  Amer- 
ican occupation  was  there  an  understanding 
reached  between  the  two  peoples.  For  the  first 
time  a  legislative  measure  affecting  Filipino- 
American  relationship  received  Philippine  sanc- 
tion. The  Philippine  Legislature  had  time  and 


16       SELF-GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

again  petitioned  for  the  enactment  of  the  law. 
Resolutions  after  resolutions  had  been  adopted 
by  the  Philippine  Assembly  asking  for  its  pas- 
sage if  no  more  radical  measure  could  be 
enacted.  The  Philippine  Resident  Commission- 
ers had  worked  for  the  same  thing.  The  Fili- 
pino people  endorsed  the  measure  in  numerous 
public  meetings,  in  resolutions  passed  by  pro- 
vincial boards  and  municipalities  and  ratified 
that  endorsement  when  they  returned  the  major- 
ity party  in  power. 

American  sovereignty  in  the  Philippines  has 
thus  ceased  to  be  without  the  consent  of  the 
governed.  The  Jones  Law  has  become  a  virtual 
constitutional  compact  between  the  American 
and  Filipino  peoples,  by  means  of  which  the  Fili- 
pinos have  accepted  a  temporary  government 
under  American  sovereignty  subject  to  the  con- 
ditions; first,  that  it  shall  be  autonomous,  or 
chiefly  in  the  hands  of  Filipinos;  and,  second, 
that  it  shall  be  only  preparatory  to  a  complete 
independence,  such  independence  to  be  granted 
"when  a  stable  government  can  be  established 
in  the  Islands."  It  is,  to  quote  the  words  of  its 
author,  the  late  Representative  Jones,  "  the 
everlasting  covenant  of  a  great  and  generous 
people,  speaking  through  their  accredited  rep- 


OUR  COVENANT  WITH  AMERICA  17 

resentatives,  that  they  (the  Filipinos)  shall  in 
due  time  enjoy  the  incomparable  blessings  of 
liberty  and  freedom."  "  Henceforward,"  said 
the  foremost  spokesman  of  the  Filipino  people, 
Speaker  Sergio  Osmena,  in  accepting  the  Jones 
Law  on  their  behalf,  "  we  can  look  upon  the 
American  flag  not  as  the  symbol  of  an  imposed 
government  but  as  the  emblem  of  a  nation  whose 
temporary  guidance  over  the  Filipino  people 
will  serve  as  an  instrumentality  for  the  most 
speedy  assumption  of  the  responsibility  of  an 
independent  life."  * 

i  For  a  fuller  discussion  of  past  Filipino- American  relations, 
see  the  author's  other  volume,  "  The  Case  for  the  Filipinos  " 
(Century  Co.,  1916). 


CHAPTER  II 

THE  ORGANIZATION   OF  THE   NEW    GOVERNMENT 

WHEN  the  American  Government  de- 
cided for  the  first  time  to  try  the  ex- 
periment of  colonial  government  in  the  Philip- 
pine Islands,  they  had  no  light  to  guide  them 
save  the  experience  of  other  European  nations 
which  had  colonies  in  Far  Eastern  Asia.  Igno- 
rant of  Philippine  conditions,  the  American 
statesmen  at  first  thought  that  the  problem  of 
governing  the  Islands  was  similar  to  the  task 
of  the  European  powers  in  governing  our  neigh- 
bors, Java,  the  Malay  States  and  India.  Their 
first  idea  was,  therefore,  to  study  the  colonial 
systems  of  these  countries.  One  of  the  first 
public  documents  printed  by  the  American  Con- 
gress in  1899,  accompanying  the  Treaty  of  Paris, 
was  devoted  to  the  study  of  the  colonial  systems 
of  the  Orient  for  their  application  in  the  Philip- 
pines. But  upon  a  closer  observation  of  Philip- 
pine conditions  they  found  that  the  principles  of 
European  colonization  would  not  work  in  the 

18 


ORGANIZATION  OF  NEW  GOVERNMENT        19 

Islands,  not  only  because  American  aims  were 
more  altruistic  but  because  political  conditions 
were  entirely  different.  Roughly,  colonial  gov- 
ernment in  our  neighboring  countries  is  based 
on  the  existence  of  native  rulers,  rajahs  or 
princes,  whose  authority  has  been  for  centuries 
recognized  by  the  natives  themselves.  Appar- 
ently and  ceremoniously  the  native  princes  still 
rule,  but  in  reality  it  is  their  respective  Euro- 
pean "  advisers  "  or  "  resident-generals  "  who 
are  the  actual  rulers.  Instead  of  establishing  a 
new  form  of  government,  abolishing  the  rajahs 
and  native  rulers,  the  Dutch  and  the  English 
simply  improved  the  native  institutions,  using 
these  same  rulers  as  instrumentalities  through 
which  to  impose  their  own  will. 

Now  these  conditions  do  not  exist,  and  have 
not  existed  in  the  Philippines  for  more  than  two 
hundred  years.  The  greatest  political  service 
of  Spain  to  the  Philippines  was  the  abolishment 
of  this  native  system  of  government  and  the  ex- 
tinction of  royal  or  princely  families.  The  es- 
tablishment of  Christianity  in  the  Islands  sowed 
the  first  seeds  of  equality  and  democracy,  and 
the  centuries  of  Spanish  domination  completely 
effaced  from  the  Christian  population  all  blood 
and  family  distinction. 


20       SELF-GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

Upon  the  coming  of  the  Americans,  the  Philip- 
pines had  at  least  a  system  of  local  government 
by  suffrage,  however  defective  and  limited  in 
practice  it  was.  The  work  of  propaganda  for 
reforms  in  Spain  had  brought  to  the  front  na- 
tional leaders,  recognized  by  all  the  Christian 
Filipinos  not  for  their  princely  blood,  for  they 
had  none,  but  for  their  unquestioned  ability. 
The  leadership  and  martyrdom  of  our  national 
hero,  Jose  Kizal,  was  a  proof  that  the  Filipinos 
could  look  at  some  one  man  as  a  national  guide 
and  inspiration.  They  had  long  discarded  the 
tribal  conception  of  social  organization.  The 
establishment  of  a  Philippine  Republic,  and  the 
subsequent  war  with  the  United  States,  made 
it  even  more  apparent  that  the  people  could  es- 
tablish a  national  government  after  the  Occi- 
dental type.  It  was  for  these  reasons  that  the 
American  statesmen  who  had  been  studying  the 
governmental  forms  of  Java  and  the  Malay 
States  desisted  from  their  original  idea  of  ap- 
plying this  type  of  government  in  the  Philip- 
pines. There  was  a  potential  democracy  in  the 
Islands. 

Without  belittling  what  America  has  done  for 
the  Philippines,  there  is  no  getting  away  from 
the  fact  that  the  progress  towards  democracy  in 


ORGANIZATION  OF  NEW  GOVERNMENT       21 

the  Philippines  has  been  due  mainly  to  the  ma- 
terials that  America  found  there.  This  made 
America's  task  a  great  deal  easier.  That  was 
why  even  the  early  military  governors  of  the 
Philippines  found  no  difficulty  in  continuing  to 
a  large  extent  the  municipal  government  of  the 
Islands,  giving  it  a  larger  autonomy.  The  first 
local  elections  in  the  Philippines  took  place  un- 
der the  supervision  of  military  officers.  After 
the  extension  of  municipal  autonomy  came  the 
establishment  of  provincial  government  under 
a  board  composed  of  an  elective  governor  and 
two  other  provincial  officials  appointed  by  the 
Governor-General.  Following  the  popular  de- 
mand, the  provincial  government  was  again 
changed  and  complete  provincial  autonomy  was 
given  under  a  provincial  board  totally  elected 
by  the  people.  The  Congress  of  the  United 
States,  in  passing  the  Organic  Act  of  1902,  de- 
cided to  call  a  National  Assembly  in  1907  to 
participate  in  the  national  law-making.  Being 
the  only  representative  governmental  organ,  this 
assembly  became  the  exponent  of  the  ideals  and 
aspirations  of  the  Filipino  people.  It  repre- 
sented their  "  counsel."  While  there  were  other 
Filipino  officials  in  the  upper  house  appointed 
by  the  President,  the  Speaker  of  the  National 


22      SELF-GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

Assembly  was  considered  the  leader  of  the  people 
in  the  government.  He  was  ostensibly  at  one 
and  the  same  time  representative  of  his  district 
and  also  of  the  entire  body  which  elected  him. 
He  represented  more  narrowly  the  "  counsel " 
of  the  people.  His  rise  in  influence  has  been  due, 
therefore,  not  so  much  to  the  fact  that  he  was 
the  presiding  officer  of  the  Assembly,  but  be- 
cause he  was  the  only  man  in  the  government 
who  could  truly  be  said  to  represent  the  people. 
The  more  a  Governor-General  wanted  to  make 
his  administration  popular,  the  greater  became 
the  power  and  influence  of  the  Assembly,  and 
consequently  that  of  the  Speaker.  The  Filipino 
people  looked  up  to  the  Speaker  for  the  success 
or  failure  of  the  part  they  were  taking  in  the 
government.  The  Assembly  typified  all  the 
ideals  of  the  people,  and  every  step  towards  a 
more  liberal  form  of  government  was  advocated 
and  fought  for  by  that  body.  It  insisted  that, 
being  the  popular  body,  it  should  initiate  all 
appropriation  bills.  It  also  fought  for  the  con- 
trol of  the  Kesident  Commissioners  in  the  United 
States.  The  law  provided  that  the  two  repre- 
sentatives in  Washington  should  be  elected  by 
the  two  houses,  but  inasmuch  as  the  intention 
was  to  send  representatives  of  the  Filipino 


ORGANIZATION  OF  NEW  GOVERNMENT       23 

people  and  not  of  the  administration  and  be- 
cause the  upper  house  was  controlled  by  Amer- 
icans, the  Assembly  argued  that  it  should  have 
the  final  say  as  to  the  choice  of  these  men.  There 
were  continuous  conflicts  on  other  governmental 
matters  between  the  lower  houses  and  the  ap- 
pointive commission.  Deadlocks  were  constant 
on  the  appropriation  bills,  the  representatives 
of  the  people  being  solidly  opposed  to  the  finan- 
cial policies  of  the  American-controlled  upper 
house.  The  provision  in  the  law  to  the  effect 
that  in  case  of  such  deadlocks  the  total  sum  of 
the  previous  appropriation  law  would,  upon  the 
advice  of  the  Governor-General,  be  considered 
appropriated  for  the  ensuing  year,  left  the  popu- 
lar chamber  with  very  little  financial  power. 
Add  to  this  the  fact  that  the  upper  house,  or  the 
Philippine  Commission,  had  exclusive  jurisdic- 
tion over  the  non-Christian  parts  of  the  archi- 
pelago, almost  one-third  of  the  total  area  of  the 
Islands,  and  we  may  know  just  how  much  power 
the  Assembly  had.  The  government  then  estab- 
lished, the  mixture  of  a  representative  institu- 
tion and  an  irresponsible  executive  and  adminis- 
tration, was  hence  very  unsatisfactory.  That 
type  of  government  has  failed  wherever  it  has 
been  established.  It  failed  in  the  early  Eng- 


24       SELF-GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

lish  colonies,  where,  as  in  the  Philippines,  the 
lower  house  became  the  stronghold  of  the  people, 
and  the  governor  and  his  council  the  representa- 
tives of  the  crown.  It  failed  in  Canada,  where, 
because  of  threatened  separation  from  the  Mother 
Country,  the  system  had  to  be  completely  abol- 
ished and  a  responsible  government  established 
—  a  government  wherein  not  only  the  lower 
house  is  subject  to  the  people's  call,  but  also 
one  in  which  the  chief  executive  merely  acts  as  a 
passive  and  ceremonial  figure,  leaving  all  govern- 
mental affairs  in  the  hands  of  a  select  body,  the 
cabinet,  responsible  to  the  people  or  their  rep- 
resentatives. 

But  though  the  power  given  the  Filipinos  in 
the  old  regime  was  limited,  there  was  an  advan- 
tage in  the  system  in  that  there  was  unity  of 
leadership  among  the  members  of  the  Assembly. 
Besides  the  leadership  assumed  by  the  Speaker, 
the  internal  organization  of  the  Assembly  also 
made  for  unified  action.  While  the  house  was, 
like  the  American  legislatures,  split  up  among 
many  committees,  there  was  a  "  committee  of 
committees,"  so  to  speak,  the  committee  on  ap- 
propriations, composed  usually  of  chairmen  of 
other  committees,  to  which  all  matters  touching 
revenues  and  expenditures  were  referred.  There 


•v 


JOSE    RIZAL 
The  national  hero  of  the  Philippines 


A  GLIMPSE  OF  PORTION  OF  OLD   MANILA 


ORGANIZATION  OF  NEW  GOVERNMENT       25 

was,  therefore,  no  confusion  of  counsel.  Even 
after  the  majority  of  the  appointive  commission 
became  Filipinos,  the  Assembly  retained  the  con- 
fidence of  the  people,  so  that  when  a  democratic 
administration  came  with  the  desire  to  give  the 
people  more  power,  the  problem  of  popular  gov- 
ernment in  the  Islands,  in  so  far  as  it  could  be 
possible  within  the  limitations  of  the  then  Or- 
ganic Act,  was  relatively  simple:  there  was  but 
one  real  leader  of  the  people,  and  that  was  the 
Speaker  of  the  Assembly.  Governor-General 
Harrison  had  naturally  to  call  on  him  and  other 
recognized  leaders  of  the  Assembly  for  advice 
on  governmental  matters.  The  Governor-Gen- 
eral thus  became  a  sort  of  constitutional  mon- 
arch in  the  Philippines,  listening  to  his  respon- 
sible advisers  on  governmental  questions;  or, 
better  still,  he  approached  more  the  type  of  the 
English  governor  of  a  self-governing  colony  rul- 
ing upon  the  advice  of  the  local  cabinet. 

The  coming  of  the  Jones  Law  made  the  prob- 
lem of  popular  government  in  the  Islands,  in  a 
way,  more  difficult.  Being  a  complete  constitu- 
tion made  by  an  alien  people,  outlining  a  frame- 
work of  government  for  another  people,  ten 
thousand  miles  away,  living  a  different  life  and 
nourished  by  different  political  traditions,  its 


26       SELF-GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

practical  application  presented  some  very  seri- 
ous problems.  The  solution  of  these  problems 
by  the  Filipino  people  would  in  itself  indicate 
the  grade  of  political  capacity  they  have  at- 
tained. The  fundamental  defect  of  the  Jones 
Law  consists  in  the  fact  that  the  Filipinos  were 
granted  and  told  to  w'ork  out  a  complete  system 
of  government  in  the  framing  of  which  they  had 
but  a  very  small,  if  any,  share.  Under  the  Jones 
Act,  besides  the  Philippine  Assembly,  two  other 
governmental  instruments  or  powers  were  given 
the  Filipinos:  to  the  tower  elective  house  was 
added  an  elective  senate,  and  the  Philippine 
Legislature  was  given  the  power  to  reorganize 
the  executive  departments,  with  the  exception  of 
the  Department  of  Public  Instruction.  There 
were  at  first  conflicting  opinions  as  to  how  large 
a  portion  of  the  executive  function  was  meant 
to  be  given  the  Filipinos.  Would  the  Filipino 
executive  heads  appointed  by  the  Governor-Gen- 
eral, with  the  consent  of  the  Senate,  be  respon- 
sible to  the  people  or  to  their  representatives? 
It  is  true  that  their  appointment,  like  all  others 
made  by  the  Governor-General,  requires  the  con- 
sent of  the  Philippine  Senate;  but  under  the 
American  Federal  system  the  President's  cab- 
inet is  also  appointed  with  the  consent  of  the 


ORGANIZATION  OF  NEW  GOVERNMENT        27 

Senate  of  the  United  States,  and  yet  American 
cabinet  members  are  in  reality  mere  agents  of 
the  President.  They  are  not  responsible  to  Con- 
gress, and  the  Senate's  consent  simply  comes  as 
a  matter  of  form.  The  executive  power  being 
vested  in  the  President,  and  there  being,  legally 
at  least,  complete  separation  between  the  execu- 
tive and  the  legislature,  all  executive  officials  are 
in  reality  simply  his  agents.  The  executive 
power  under  the  Jones  Act  is,  as  in  the  Amer- 
ican Government,  vested  in  the  Governor-Gen- 
eral. Therefore,  in  the  opinion  of  some,  it  was 
more  than  likely  that  the  heads  of  the  executive 
departments  would  be  mere  agents  of  the  Chief 
Executive. 

But  the  liberal  constructionists  triumphed. 
We  must  get  the  answer  from  the  spirit  and  pur- 
pose of  the  act,  they  said.  The  purpose  of  the 
act  is  to  give  to  the  Filipinos  as  large  a  control 
of  their  affairs  as  can  be  given  to  them  without 
impairing  the  rights  of  sovereignty  of  the  United 
States.  The  mere  giving  of  two  branches  of  the 
legislature  would  not  make  our  government  an 
autonomous  one  if  the  people  were  not  given  a 
hand  in  the  execution  of  the  laws  and  in  the 
administration  of  the  government.  Consider- 
able executive  power  must,  therefore,  be  given  to 


28       SELF-GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

the  people.  This  interpretation  was  supported 
by  Governor  Harrison  in  a  statement  given  on 
September  1,  1916,  in  which  he  explained  the 
meaning  of  the  bill.  He  said : 

' '  The  main  points  of  opposition  to  the  bill  centered 
upon  the  promise  in  the  preamble  of  ultimate  inde- 
pendence, and  the  power  of  confirmation  of  executive 
nominations  by  the  Philippine  Senate.  So  far  as  my 
own  personal  efforts  could  be  of  any  influence,  these 
were  the  two  points  upon  which  the  greatest  insistence 
was  laid.  With  the  support  of  the  President  and  the 
work  of  friends  in  Congress,  both  questions  have  been 
resolved  favorably.  I  am  a  firm  believer  that  an  ex- 
ecutive should  consult  the  people,  through  their  rep- 
resentatives, as  to  who  shall  serve  them  in  office.  This 
is  the  vital  nerve  of  self-government.  It  should  never 
be  possible,  and  it  will  now  never  be  so  here,  for  an 
executive  to  ride  ruthlessly  over  the  people  he  is  sent 
here  to  govern,  without  due  regard  for  their  senti- 
ments and  due  consideration  of  their  wishes." 

Inasmuch  as  our  cabinet  members  are  not 
elected  by  the  people,  they  must  be  appointed 
only  after  consultation  with  our  legislature, 
"  the  representatives  "  of  the  people.  If  that  be 
the  case,  then  a  certain  amount  of  responsibility 
of  the  cabinet  to  the  legislature  and  indirectly  to 
the  people  is  assured.  Credit  must  be  given 
Governor  Harrison  for  the  splendid  manner  in 


which  he  has  carried  out  the  spirit  of  the  Jones 
Act. 

The  Filipinos  were,  therefore,  to  have  under 
their  control  three  important  and  distinct  in- 
strumentalities of  government:  to  the  lower 
house  or  Assembly  granted  us  in  our  Organic 
Act  of  1902  were  added  the  Senate  and  the  ex- 
ecutive posts,  except  the  secretaryship  of  Public 
Instruction.  The  organization  of  the  new  gov- 
ernment brought  forth  several  serious  problems. 
These  three  organs  of  government,  two  legisla- 
tive and  one  executive,  must  collectively  possess, 
for  their  proper  and  efficient  operation,  first, 
harmony  of  action,  and,  second,  effective  respon- 
sibility to  the  people.  These  qualities  should 
exist  in  all  governments,  but  particularly  in  a 
governmental  organization  still  dependent  on  a 
foreign  flag.  While  we  remain  under  Amer- 
ican sovereignty  we  must  have  complete  har- 
mony of  action  and  community  of  purpose  in 
all  the  governmental  organs  that  may  be  given 
us;  and,  lest  these  organs  be  used  arbitrarily, 
they  must  be  made  amenable  to  public  opinion 
and  responsible  to  the  people.  How  could  this 
be  done?  When  we  had  only  one  organ  for  ex- 
pressing the  people's  will,  the  Philippine  As- 
sembly, and  a  new  Governor  wanted  to  use  this 


30       SELF-GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

organ  so  that  he  might  govern  with  the  sanction 
of  public  opinion,  it  was  easy  to  place  the  re- 
sponsibility on  the  Speaker  of  the  Philippine  As- 
sembly. He  was,  as  one  editor  graphically  de- 
scribed him,  at  the  head  of  the  Philippine 
Government  on  behalf  of  the  Filipino  people. 
Who  was  to  take  that  place  under  the  new  man- 
agement? Should  he  be  the  Speaker  of  the  As- 
sembly as  before?  And  how  about  the  President 
of  the  Senate?  And  the  heads  of  departments? 
How  was  the  collective  counsel  of  the  people  to 
be  represented?  Who  was  the  Filipino  power 
in  the  government  who,  by  virtue  of  his  repre- 
sentation, was  entitled  to  be  first  heard  on  im- 
portant state  affairs?  Who  was  the  man  to  be 
mainly  responsible  for  the  failure  and  success 
of  the  Filipino  part  in  the  government? 

One  of  the  political  teachings  of  the  recent 
war  seems  to  offer  a  solution  of  the  very  problem 
which  vexed  the  Filipinos  in  the  organization 
of  the  new  government.  The  critical  war  pe- 
riod, as  well  as  the  present  era  of  reconstruc- 
tion where  tremendous  problems  must  be  solved, 
seems  to  point  out  the  necessity  of  a  more  uni- 
fied and  responsible  leadership  on  whom  the  in- 
itiation and  responsibility  for  governmental 
measures  should  fall.  How  often  has  the  United 


ORGANIZATION  OF  NEW  GOVERNMENT        31 

States  appeared  weak  and  vacillating  before  Eu- 
rope, because  of  the  extreme  separation  and 
independence  between  the  legislature  and  the 
executive,  the  dislocation  of  responsibility  for 
governmental  policy,  and  the  constant  rivalry  be- 
tween the  President  and  Congress! 

In  the  Philippines  one  thing  was  found  neces- 
sary :  there  must  be  harmony  and  cooperation  in 
the  control  of  the  executive  and  the  legislative 
departments  given  the  Filipinos.  Our  legisla- 
ture is  the  immediate  representative  of  the  peo- 
ple, and,  unless  we  decided  to  make  our  depart- 
mental heads  elective  at  large,  we  must  make 
them  directly  responsible  to  our  legislature,  so 
that  they  could  in  turn  be  made  responsible  to 
the  people.  This  is  in  truth  at  variance  from 
the  American  system  of  the  complete  separation 
of  the  executive  from  the  legislative  depart- 
ments; but  there  is  an  excuse  in  America  for 
such  a  separation,  and  that  is  the  responsibility 
of  the  chief  executive  to  the  people.  The  secre- 
taries of  departments  are  responsible  to  him  di- 
rectly and  not  to  Congress,  for  he  is  in  turn  di- 
rectly responsible  to  the  people.  The  peculiar 
situation  in  the  Philippines  demanded  the  adop- 
tion of  another  system.  The  Governor-General 
still  remained  an  American,  a  representative  of 


32       SELF-GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

a  foreign  government  and  sovereignty,  and  re- 
sponsible to  America  and  not  to  us.  If  there 
were  to  be  checks  and  balances  among  the  politi- 
cal powers  of  the  Philippines,  they  should  be  ex- 
ercised by  the  Governor  on  the  one  hand  and  the 
Filipino  element  on  the  other. 

With  the  inauguration  of  the  Philippine  Legis- 
lature on  October  16, 1916,  the  governmental  ma- 
chinery brought  over  by  the  Jones  Act  actually 
began  functioning.  Even  in  the  early  days  of 
its  organization,  the  absence  of  a  legally  united 
and  responsible  leadership  was  apparent.  The 
two  houses,  of  the  legislature  were  both  elective, 
with  co-equal  legislative  powers.  The  lower 
house,  with  its  tradition  dating  from  the  inaug- 
uration of  the  Assembly  ten  years  before,  its  bril- 
liant record  as  the  spokesman  of  the  people,  and 
the  conflict  it  had  waged  with  the  Commission, 
together  with  its  supposedly  more  popular  char- 
acter because  of  a  shorter  tenure  of  office,  im- 
pressed its  members  with  its  importance.  On 
the  other  hand,  there  was  a  new  glamor  in  the 
name  of  Senate,  and  hence  the  people  had  from 
the  beginning  an  instinctive  feeling  that  some- 
how or  other  it  was  a  more  important  body. 
President  Quezon,  in  his  inaugural  address,  re- 
ferred to  the  popular  character  of  the  Senate, 


HON.  SERGIO  OSMENA 

Speaker  of  the  Philippine  House  of  Representatives  and  Vice-President  of  the  Council  of 
State  of  the  Philippine  Government 


THE  HONORABLE  CAYETANO  ARELLANO 
Chief  Justice  of  the  Philippine  Supreme  Court 


ORGANIZATION  OF  NEW  GOVERNMENT       33 

intended  to  represent,  so  he  claimed,  the  maturer 
judgment  of  the  people.  That  there  should  be  a 
rivalry  between  these  two  .houses  was  only  nat- 
ural. Harmony  and  cooperation  between  the 
two  bodies  was,  however,  made  possible  by  the 
presence  of  an  extra-legal  factor  —  the  political 
parties.  Caucuses  were  at  once  held  by  majority 
members  of  the  two  houses,  and,  because  of 
the  overwhelming  majority  of  the  Nacionalista 
Party,  a  party  policy  could  be  enunciated  and  fol- 
lowed. The  President  of  the  Nacionalista  Party 
continued  to  be  Speaker  OsmeSa  of  the  lower 
house,  and  the  Senators,  for  party  discipline,  had 
to  follow  his  leadership. 

In  the  meanwhile  the  question  of  reorganiz- 
ing the  executive  departments  had  been  taken 
up.  The  statement  of  Governor  Harrison  that 
he  would  consult  the  people's  representatives  in 
the  selection  of  officials  insured  a  certain  meas- 
ure of  cabinet  responsibility  on  the  part  of  fu- 
ture executive  heads.  It  was  advocated  that 
members  of  the  legislature  be  allowed  to  hold 
departmental  positions,  and  that  the  practice  of 
ministerial  responsibility  to  the  legislature  be 
followed.  Some  questioned  the  practicability  of 
this  plan,  inasmuch  as  the  Governor-General  still 
had  the  supreme  executive  power  as  well  as  the 


34       SELF-GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

appointive  power.  Senate  President  Quezon  an- 
swered this  objection,  saying  that  "although  un- 
der the  Jones  Act  the  secretaries  will  be  re- 
sponsible to  the  Governor-General,  yet  in  the  de- 
velopment of  the  system  which  we  implant  under 
this  bill,  the  day  will  come  when  the  secretaries 
shall,  at  least  in  part,  be  responsible  to  the 
Houses."  "  It  has  been  deemed  advisable,"  said 
Senator  Palma,  "  to  provide  in  the  bill  that  it 
shall  be  the  duty  of  the  heads  of  the  executive 
departments  to  appear  in  either  House  when- 
ever called  upon  to  do  so,  not  only  for  the  pur- 
pose of  reporting  upon  their  official  acts  and 
measures,  but  also  to  collaborate  in  the  policy 
and  in  the  preparation  of  the  acts  passed  by  the 
Legislature.  This  can  only  be  done  if  the  de- 
partment heads  are  members  of  the  Houses.  The 
duty  to  appear  in  either  House  of  the  Legislature 
may  not  look  like  very  much  on  paper,  but  in 
reality  it  signifies  a  great  deal.  The  depart- 
ment heads  will  not  only  have  to  give  the  infor- 
mation required  of  them,  but  being  often  sub- 
jected to  minute  interrogation  they  will  have  to 
explain  and  defend  their  official  acts.  If  the 
Houses  can  demand  of  them  that  they  give  an 
account  of  their  official  acts,  they  are  responsible 
to  the  Houses,  though  ultimately  responsible  to 


ORGANIZATION  OF  NEW  GOVERNMENT       35 

the  Governor-General.  We  cannot  claim  more 
under  the  provisions  of  the  Jones  bill." 

The  Reorganization  Act  retained  the  old  De- 
partment of  the  Interior  and  created  five  execu- 
tive departments:  Public  Instruction,  Finance, 
Justice,  Agriculture  and  Natural  Resources,  and 
Commerce  and  Communications.  The  executive 
heads  are  to  be  elected  at  the  beginning  of  every 
legislature,  which  means  that  they  are  to  be 
chosen  from  the  triumphant  party  in  the  pre- 
ceding election.  They  may  be  called  by,  and  may 
voluntarily  appear  before,  either  House.  Legis- 
lative members  can  be  appointed  to  the  cabinet. 

There  was  at  first  the  idea  of  placing  Filipino 
leadership  in  the  cabinet  instead  of  in  the  chair- 
manship of  either  House,  and  giving  some  mem- 
bers of  the  legislature  cabinet  posts,  but  the  pro- 
hibition against  legislators  occupying  positions 
created  during  their  term  of  office  made  only  one 
cabinet  position  available,  the  secretaryship  of 
the  Interior.  The  Senate  would  not  be  repre- 
sented in  the  cabinet  if  the  portfolio  of  Secretary 
of  the  Interior  was  given  to  the  House  leader. 
So  the  plan  of  placing  leadership  in  the  cabinet 
was  abandoned,  and  the  real  legislative  leaders 
had  to  remain  outside  the  cabinet  and  continued 
to  be  the  presiding  officers  of  both  houses.  The 


36       SELF-GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

floor  leader  of  the  Senate,  however,  was  ap- 
pointed Secretary  of  the  Interior,  and  the  other 
cabinet  members  appointed  were  all  friendly  to 
and  in  harmony  with  the  party  in  power  in  the 
legislature.  The  presiding  officers  of  both 
houses,  because  of  their  personality  and  the  pres- 
tige of  their  positions,  continued  to  be  the  most 
influential  men  in  the  government  and  the  Gov- 
ernor-General's chief  advisers. 

The  problem  of  an  open  and  responsible  lead- 
ership thus  remained  unsolved.  Although  every- 
body knew  that  Speaker  Osmena  was  the  Filipino 
power  in  the  government,  his  influence  was  no 
longer  due  mainly  through  his  official  position, 
but  because  he  was  the  president  of  the  tri- 
umphant party.  This  was  a  bad  precedent,  for 
then  anybody  who  could,  by  hook  or  crook,  be- 
come the  leader  of  the  party  in  power  would  be 
the  most  influential  man  in  the  government,  and 
we  would  have  the  same  problem  of  government 
by  irresponsible  party  bosses  which  infests  some 
American  states  and  cities.  It  was  urgent  that 
out  of  the  different  instrumentalities  of  govern- 
ment granted  by  the  Jones  Law  to  the  people,  a 
definite  body  be  created  or  recognized  to  repre- 
sent more  narrowly  the  counsel  of  the  people,  to 
breathe  harmony  and  efficiency  into  our  legis- 


ORGANIZATION  OF  NEW  GOVERNMENT       37 

lative  and  executive  departments,  and  that  in 
that  body  or  council  a  place  be  assigned  to  a 
Filipino  leader  who  would  stand  at  the  head  of 
the  government  on  behalf  of  the  people  and  who 
should  be  raised  to  that  position  by  a  triumphant 
majority  through  his  undoubted  leadership  and 
the  confidence  he  might  command  in  the  entire 
nation.  In  actual  practice  Filipino  leadership 
was  dispersed  among  cabinet  members  and  the 
presiding  officers  of  the  two  houses.  They  were 
the  chief  advisers  of  the  Governor-General. 
They  formed  an  incoherent  group  with  only  party 
discipline  and  loyalty  to  impel  them  to  work  for  a 
harmonious  action.  To  give  a  legal  status  to 
their  function  as  advisers  to  the  Governor-Gen- 
eral, it  was  decided  to  constitute  them  into  a 
Council  of  State  "  to  aid  and  advise  the  Gover- 
nor-General on  public  matters."  The  Governor- 
General  presides  over  the  Council  and  allows  it 
to  elect  a  vice-president  who,  in  the  very  na- 
ture of  things,  becomes  the  highest  Filipino  of- 
ficial in  the  government. 

The  Council  of  State  promises  to  solve  the 
problem  of  responsible  leadership  in  the  govern- 
ment. Composed  as  it  is  by  the  highest  execu- 
tive officials  and  the  recognized  legislative  lead- 
ers, all  of  whom  have  been  chosen  with  the  ap- 


38       SELF-GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

proval  of  the  representatives  of  the  people,  the 
Council  of  State  is  bound  to  exercise  consider- 
able powers.  It  can  properly  direct  the  Filipino 
element  in  the  government.  It  can  harmonize 
the  executive  and  legislative  departments,  while 
not  being  exactly  at  the  mercy  of  the  transient 
moods  of  the  legislature,  for  there  is  no  pro- 
vision for  its  dismissal  in  case  its  policy  is  dis- 
approved by  the  legislature.  The  Governor-Gen- 
eral sees  in  it  a  responsible  council  on  whom  he 
can  rely  for  advice  on  domestic  questions.  The 
system  may  perhaps  be  said  to  be  a  compromise 
between  the  English  cabinet  system  and  the 
American  system.  It  probably  approaches  more 
nearly  the  Swiss  Federal  Government. 

Speaker  Sergio  Osmena  was  unanimously 
elected  Vice-President  of  the  Council  of  State  by 
his  Filipino  colleagues.  His  intervention  in  gov- 
ernmental matters  is  therefore  no  longer  secret 
and  extra-legal,  secured  by  virtue  of  his  party 
leadership,  but  open  and  responsible,  as  the  high- 
est Filipino  official  in  the  government  and  the 
chief  adviser  of  the  Governor-General.  The  first 
action  of  the  Council  of  State  indicative  of  a  new 
force  in  the  Philippine  Government  was  the  rec- 
ommendation that  thirty  million  pesos  be  appro- 
priated for  free  education  —  a  crying  need  felt 


for  many  years.  The  recommendation  was  ap- 
proved by  the  legislature,  and  a  law  was  written 
on  the  statute  book  of  the  Philippines  which  will 
give  the  rudiments  of  instruction  to  every  child 
of  school  age  in  the  Philippines. 

The  Jones  Law  left  the  organization  of  our 
judiciary  untouched.  One  of  the  most  important 
contributions  of  American  occupation  to  the  fu- 
ture Philippine  state  is  the  establishment  of  an 
independent  judiciary,  the  greatest  bulwark  of 
a  government  of  laws.  Our  judiciary  is  com- 
posed of  a  Supreme  Court,  courts  of  first  in- 
stance, and  justice  of  the  peace  courts.  The 
Chief  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  is  a  Fili- 
pino. While  there  is  a  majority  of  Americans 
in  the  entire  membership,  its  personnel  is  not  a 
political  factor.  It  has  fitly  held  itself  aloof 
from  purely  political  controversies,  and  has 
gained  the  popular  respect  and  reverence  it 
justly  deserves. 

The  position  of  the  Governor-General  in  the 
present  Philippine  Government  is  a  peculiar  one. 
The  learned  English  scholar,  Mr.  Bagehot,  in 
speaking  of  the  English  government,  said  that 
there  are  two  parts  in  that  government;  one  is 
the  ornamental  and  ceremonial  part,  in  whose 
name  the  government  is  carried  —  the  King  of 


40       SELF-GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

England,  theoretically  an  absolute  ruler  —  and 
the  other  is  the  active  part,  the  one  which  really 
rules,  which  directs  the  ceremonial  part  in  prac- 
tically all  the  governmental  work  that  it  does  — 
the  House  of  Commons,  through  its  cabinet. 
The  Philippine  Government,  in  a  small  way,  is 
approaching  a  similar  arrangement.  The  Gov- 
ernor-General, although  retaining  in  law  the  ab- 
solute executive  power,  rarely  acts  on  matters 
of  domestic  concern,  except  with  the  advice  of 
the  Council  of  State.  The  guide  for  this  exer- 
cise of  governmental  power  is  the  spirit  and  pur- 
pose of  the  Jones  Law  rather  than  its  letter.  The 
object  of  the  law  is,  to  quote  its  preamble,  "  to 
place  in  the  hands  of  the  people  of  the  Philip- 
pines as  large  a  control  of  their  affairs  as  can 
be  given  them  without  in  the  meantime  impair- 
ing the  exercise  of  the  rights  of  sovereignty  of 
the  people  of  the  United  States,  in  order  that 
by  the  use  and  exercise  of  popular  franchise  and 
governmental  powers  they  may  be  the  better  pre- 
pared to  assume  fully  the  responsibilities  and 
enjoy  all  the  privileges  of  complete  independ- 
ence." 

We  have  referred  to  the  law  as  a  veritable  con- 
stitutional compact  between  the  American  and 
Filipino  peoples.  During  the  discussion  of  the 


ORGANIZATION  OF  NEW  GOVERNMENT       41 

measure  in  Congress,  our  representative,  the 
Honorable  Manuel  L.  Quezon,  expressed  the 
views  of  the  Filipino  people  as  to  the  amount  of 
autonomy  intended  in  the  law,  in  the  following 
words :  "  Heretofore  we  have  been  the  least  and 
the  last  factor  in  Philippine  affairs.  Here- 
after we  shall  be  the  first  and  most  important 
factor.  Heretofore  things  were  done  by  the 
Philippine  government  not  only  without  the  con- 
sent but  on  many  occasions  against  the  strong 
opposition  of  the  Filipino  people.  Hereafter 
nothing  will  be  done  without  our  consent,  much 
less  in  defiance  of  our  opposition."  The  Gov- 
ernor-General, in  interpreting  the  measure,  said 
that  from  now  on  "  it  should  never  be  possible, 
and  it  would  never  be  so  here,  for  an  executive 
to  ride  ruthlessly  over  the  people  he  is  sent  here 
to  govern  without  due  regard  for  their  sentiments 
and  due  consideration  of  their  wishes." 

The  organization  of  the  new  government  has 
been  carried  on  in  the  light  of  the  foregoing  in- 
terpretations. That  is  why  the  Filipinos  today 
enjoy  domestic  autonomy.  The  Council  of  State 
is  composed  of  eight  members,  all  Filipinos,  ex- 
cept the  Vice-Governor.  To  help  the  depart- 
mental secretaries  in  the  discharge  of  their  func- 
tions, under-secretaryships  have  been  created,  all 


42       SELF-GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

filled  by  Filipinos.  The  departments  have  ab- 
solute control  and  direction  over  the  govern- 
ment bureaus.  The  Legislature  is  completely  in 
the  hands  of  Filipinos.  While  the  Governor- 
General  has  a  veto  power  on  legislation,  sub- 
ject to  appeal  to  the  President  of  the  United 
States  upon  a  two-thirds  vote  of  both  houses,  he 
seldom  exercises  this  power. 

Secretary  of  War  Baker,  who  has  depart- 
mental supervision  over  the  Philippines,  has 
truly  remarked :  "  Gradually  and  without  vio- 
lence, the  functions  of  government  have  been 
taken  over  by  the  people  of  the  Islands  them- 
selves, leaving  only  the  tenuous  connection  of 
the  Governor-General."  Governor-General  Har- 
rison himself  admits  that  there  is  already  a 
"  stable  and  progressive  government "  in  the  Is- 
lands. America  may  declare  the  Philippines  in- 
dependent at  any  moment  and  immediately  recall 
her  representatives  from  the  Islands,  and  no  in- 
stitutional change  will  be  necessary  to  continue 
the  work  of  government  there.  There  is  a  gov- 
erning machinery  set  up  by  the  Filipino  people 
themselves  to  which  the  governmental  powers  can 
be  transferred.  In  that  event  the  Filipino  peo- 
ple would  simply  imitate  what  Connecticut  and 
Rhode  Island  did  upon  the  Declaration  of 


ORGANIZATION  OF  NEW  GOVERNMENT       43 

American  Independence;  they  would  simply  de- 
clare American  sovereignty  at  an  end,  bid  fare- 
well to  their  governor,  and  continue  for  the  time 
being  their  institutional  life  under  their  present 
government  until,  of  their  own  accord  and  fol- 
lowing the  recognized  American  practice,  they 
could  summon  a  constitutional  convention  to 
draft  the  permanent  fundamental  law  for  the 
first  really  democratic  republic  in  the  Far  East. 


CHAPTER  III 

THE   PHILIPPINE  BUDGET   SYSTEM 

ONE  of  the  first  governmental  reforms  car- 
ried out  by  the  Philippine  Legislature 
after  the  establishment  of  an  autonomous  gov- 
ernment under  the  Jones  Law  was  a  budget  sys- 
tem. The  movement  originated  in  the  Philip- 
pines, as  neither  the  first  Organic  Act  of  the 
Philippines,  the  Act  of  1902,  nor  the  Jones  Law, 
suggested  the  establishment  of  the  system.  And 
the  system  that  was  established  under  the  Or- 
ganic Act  of  1902  was,  from  the  standpoint  of 
a  responsible  democratic  government,  even  worse 
than  any  American  system  on  the  continent,  for 
it  completely  took  away  from  the  representatives 
of  the  people  their  rightful  share  in  the  appro- 
priation and  disbursement  of  public  funds. 

The  Organic  Law  of  1902  provided  that  all  ap- 
propriations must  be  made  by  law.  (Sec.  5, 
Par.  15.)  This  apparently  gave  the  Philippine 
Assembly,  established  in  1917,  co-equal  power 
with  the  Philippine  Commission  in  money  mat- 

44 


THE  PHILIPPINE  BUDGET  SYSTEM          45 

ters.  But  such  is  not  the  fact.  The  other  pro- 
vision that  in  case  of  a  deadlock  on  an  appropria- 
tion bill  the  entire  sum  appropriated  the  year 
before  shall  be  considered  as  appropriated  for 
the  ensuing  year  (sec.  7,  par.  3)  gave  the  Gov- 
ernor-General almost  dictatorial  power  in  fiscal 
matters.  He  could  create,  and  did  create,  offices 
in  defiance  of  the  opposition  of  the  representa- 
tives of  the  people,  and  could  dispose  in  what- 
ever way  he  wished  of  all  the  money  of  the  gov- 
ernment so  long  as  the  entire  sum  did  not  ex- 
ceed the  sum  previously  appropriated.  Thus 
while  all  other  popular  legislative  bodies  had 
the  distinction  of  commanding  and  controlling 
all  money  bills,  serving  thereby  as  a  great  check 
upon  the  executive,  our  Philippine  Assembly 
was  deprived  of  this  function  and  was,  as  a  re- 
sult, a  considerably  weaker  body  than  most  leg- 
islative assemblies. 

Under  the  circumstances  the  budget  system 
could  not  in  any  way  have  been  established. 
There  was  no  executive  responsible,  or  who 
could  be  made  responsible  to  the  Filipino  branch 
of  the  Legislature,  and  to  whom  the  preparation 
of  the  budget  could  be  entrusted.  Nay,  it  was 
even  more  advantageous  for  the  Filipino  people 
to  demand  the  principle  of  the  Congressional 


46       SELF-GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

system;  the  initiation  of  all  money  bills  in  the 
lower  house.  This  demand  after  a  long  struggle 
with  the  Commission  was  gained,  although  with 
no  great  advantage,  for  there  being  constant  dead- 
locks between  the  two  houses  on  appropriation 
bills,  the  fiscal  power  remained  practically  in 
the  hands  of  the  Governor-General. 

The  procedure  followed  in  the  submission  and 
preparation  of  estimates  was  similar  to  the 
American  federal  practice.  Thirty  days  before 
the  opening  of  each  regular  session,  each  bureau 
chief  —  not  the  department  head  —  sent  to  the 
Executive  Secretary,  a  statement  of  the  receipts 
and  expenditures  of  his  bureau  or  office  during 
the  year  and  an  estimate  of  the  receipts  and  nec- 
essary expenditures  thereof  for  the  ensuing  fis- 
cal year.  Like  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  of 
the  United  States,  the  Executive  Secretary  sim- 
ply compiled  these  estimates  and  sent  them  to 
the  legislature.  He  had  no  power  of  revision  or 
coordination.  There  was  no  executive  respon- 
sible for  the  fiscal  plan  of  the  government.  It 
was  the  question  of  who  had  the  greatest  "  pull." 

Other  bills  appropriating  money  were  intro- 
duced in  a  hit-or-miss  fashion,  following  no  sys- 
tematized and  unified  scheme  of  national  im- 
provement They  were  considered  on  their  in- 


THE  PHILIPPINE  BUDGET  SYSTEM  47 

dividual  merits,  and  not  on  a  well-defined  fiscal 
plan  for  the  entire  country.  They  were  not 
based  on  any  possible  amount  of  revenue  that 
might  be  gathered.  Thousands  of  this  kind  of 
bills  were  introduced  at  every  session.  Had  they 
all  passed,  the  resources  of  the  country  for  the 
next  ten  years  would  have  been  exhausted.  We 
never  knew  whether  we  were  expending  more 
than  we  were  earning.  We  never  learned,  even 
more  or  less  definitely,  whether  we  were  running 
into  bankruptcy  or  not.  This  was  shown  to  be 
the  fact  when  on  the  assumption  of  office  by 
Governor  Harrison,  there  were  wide  assevera- 
tions that  the  Philippine  Government  had  been 
running  headlong  towards  financial  ruin.  "  For 
three  years  prior  to  1913,"  says  Governor  Harri- 
son in  his  first  message,  "  the  Government  had 
expended  from  two  to  two  and  a  half  million 
pesos  yearly  in  excess  of  its  ordinary  income, 
and  in  1913  had  expended  more  than  7,000,000 
pesos  in  excess  of  such  income."  Seven  million 
pesos  in  excess  of  our  income!  The  fact  had 
never  been  openly  communicated  to  the  people 
or  their  representatives. 

That  there  was  an  unpardonable  lack  of  sys- 
tematized plan  in  our  previous  financial  system 
can  be  easily  seen  in  the  number  and  nature  of 


48       SELF-GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

appropriation  bills  annually  passed  by  the  Phil- 
ippine Commission  and  the  Philippine  Legisla- 
ture. From  April  3,  1915,  to  March  16,  1916, 
for  instance,  thirty-seven  acts  carrying  a  total 
appropriation  of  over  38,000,000  pesos  were 
passed.  The  list  follows. 


ACTS  CARRYING  APPROPRIATIONS  PASSED  BY  THE 
PHILIPPINE  LEGISLATURE,  OR  THE  PHILIPPINE 
COMMISSION  ALONE  FROM  APRIL  3,  1915,  TO  FEBRU- 
ARY 24,  1916. 


Number  of  Act 


1.  No.    2519 


2. 


3. 


4. 
5. 
6. 

7. 
8. 

9- 
10. 

11. 
12. 


2521 


2523 


Amount  Carried 
pesos 
1  2,000.00 


Object 
Lepanto  trail. 


2,500.00. 
20,000.00  . 


.Publicity    for    forest    study 
in  Agusan  Valley. 


Locusts  and  rinder-pest  in 
Mountain  Province, 
Nueva  Vizcaya,  Mindanao 
and  Sulu. 

2524  ......        15,000.00.  .Roads       and       bridges       in 

Nueva  Viscaya. 

2525  ......        10,000.00  .  .  Cholera    in    Mindanao    and 

Sulu. 

2526  ......        35,000.00  .  .  Agriculture,      industry, 

health  and  irrigation  in 
Mt.  Province. 

2529  ......        10,000.00..  For  Baguio  fair. 

2531  ......    1,000,000.00.  -Education  in  Non-Christian 

parts. 

2534  ......        Not  fixed..  For    destruction    caused    by 

baguios. 

2535  ......        15,000.00..  For      repairs      in      Benguet 

road. 
2540  ......  25,468,913.31  .  .General  appropriation  bill. 

2542  ......        52,000.00  ..Repair    Naguilian-Baguio 

road  for  1916. 


THE  PHILIPPINE  BUDGET  SYSTEM 


49 


Number  of  Act 


Amount  Carried 

pesos 
.    1,458,491.00. 


Object 

13.  No.   2543 1,458,491.00.  .Appropriation  for  Mindanao 

and  Sulu. 

14.  "      2546 1 6,000.00.. For  Hotel  Pines,  Baguio. 

15.  "      2547 269,3 11. 11..  Current    expenses    for    Mt. 

Province  and  Nueva  Vis- 
caya. 

16.  "      2548 50,000.00 . .  For  immunization. 

17.  "      2550 Not  fixed..  For   obligations  on   account 

of  friar  lands. 

18.  "      2575 2,000.00.  .For  creation  of  fiscalship  in 

Palawan  and  other  pur- 
poses. 

2583 2,621,000.00.  -Permanent    improvements. 

20.  2596 100,000.00.. Aid    to   young   industries. 

2598 10,000.00..  For    «  Junta    de    Productos 

del  Coco." 

2607 2,500,000.00.. Deposits      in       Commercial 

Bank  for  agricultural 
loans. 

2610 49,145.00..  Judiciary      deficiency      bill 

during  1916. 

24.  "      2611 118,882.59.  .Deficiency  bill  for  other  gov- 

ernmental offices  for  1916. 
(Total  deficiency  168,- 
027.59  pesos.) 

25.  2612 2,300,000.00.. Part     payment     for     Nat'l 

Bank. 

2613 1 5,000.00 ..  Foment  of  tobacco. 

2623 10,000.00 .  .  Conservatory   of  Music. 

2624. ..  .Not determined.  .TO   pay   interest  on   bonds. 
29.            2625 ....  Not  determined .  .  For  amortization  of  bonds. 
2632 7,500.00..  For     schools     in     Mountain 

Province. 

31.  2633 1,000,000.00.  .To  combat  infant  mortality. 

32.  "      2637 10,000.00.  .Exhibition  at  Formosa. 

33.  "      2638 7 1, 000.00.. "Reimbolso"  of  land  taxes 

in  typhoon-devastated 
provinces. 

34.  "      2649 10,000.00.  .For  forest  reserve  purposes. 

35.  "      2651 25,000.00.  .For   immunization. 


50       SELF-GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

Number  of  Act         Amount  Carried 

pesos  Object 

36.  No.  2652 Not  fixed . .  Loans    for    irrigation    pur- 

poses. 

37.  "      2659 2,250.00 . .  For     police     quarters,     Mt. 

Province. 
Total 38,341,993.01  pesos. 

The  table  of  laws  shows  a  lack  of  systematized 
groupings  of  objects  for  the  easy  comprehension 
of  the  public  or  the  legislature.  At  the  end  of 
every  session  a  member  could  not  know  what 
had  been  the  main  fiscal  policy  of  the  legislature. 
Appropriations  for  social  improvement  or  eco- 
nomic development  are  in  several  and  independ- 
ent bills.  Act  2523,  for  instance,  appropriates 
20,000  pesos  for  extermination  of  locusts  and  rin- 
derpest in  the  Mountain  Province,  Nueva  Viz- 
caya,  Mindanao  and  Sulu;  Act  2526  sets  aside 
35,000  pesos  for  agriculture,  industry,  health  and 
irrigation  in  Mountain  Province;  Act  2548  pro- 
vides 50,000  pesos  for  immunization;  Act  2598 
gives  10,000  for  Junta  de  Productos  del  Coco; 
Act  2613  appropriates  15,000  pesos  for  the  fo- 
ment of  tobacco;  Act  2651  adds  25,000  pesos  to 
immunization  funds  provided  in  Act  2548;  Act 
2652  provides  for  loans  for  irrigation  purposes. 
All  these  acts  refer  to  the  development  of  agri- 
culture, and  should  be  grouped  together  in  one 
bill  under  that  heading.  They  were  undoubt- 


THE  PHILIPPINE  BUDGET  SYSTEM  51 

edly  drafted  by  different  persons  who  might  not 
have  the  same  ideas  as  to  the  way  the  agricul- 
tural development  should  be  carried  on.  It  is 
just  as  likely  that  some  of  these  bills  are  at  cross 
purposes  with  other  bills  on  the  same  subjects. 

Such  was,  in  brief,  the  system  of  government 
finance  in  vogue  prior  to  the  establishment  of 
the  Jones  Law.  There  was  no  attempt  on  the 
part  of  the  Filipinos  to  adopt  a  budget  system, 
for  there  was  no  responsible  executive  to  frame 
it.  All  executive  posts  were  filled  by  appoint- 
ment by  the  President  of  the  United  States  or 
the  Governor-General  without  the  consent  of 
any  representative  body. 

There  was  no  centralized  responsibility  in  the 
preparation  and  submission  of  estimates.  Every 
little  bureau  was  a  department  by  itself,  prepared 
its  own  estimate,  and  sent  it  to  the  legislature 
through  the  executive  secretary.  There  was  no 
coordination,  each  bureau  trying  to  get  as  much 
as  it  could.  There  was  no  financial  secretary  to 
clip  the  wings  of  over-ambitious  bureaus  ob- 
sessed with  self-importance.  The  result  was  an 
extravagant,  top-heavy  bureaucracy,  an  unneces- 
sary duplication  of  work  and  activity. 

But  the  coming  of  the  Jones  Law  did  not  im- 
mediately solve  the  problem.  As  stated  else- 


52       SELF-GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

where,  the  Law  did  not  provide  for  a  budget 
system,  and  there  were  some  who  doubted 
whether  it  could  be  made  possible  under  its  pro- 
vision. Sec.  21  of  the  Law  states  that  — "  The 
Governor-General  shall  submit  to  the  Philip- 
pine Legislature  within  ten  days  of  the  open- 
ing of  each  regular  session  a  budget  of  receipts 
and  expenditures,  which  shall  be  the  basis  of  the 
annual  appropriation  bill." 

This  provision  and  the  fact  that  the  Governor- 
General  still  retained,  according  to  law,  su- 
preme executive  power,  created  in  the  minds  of 
some  the  doubt  as  to  whether  the  executive  could 
be  entrusted  with  the  framing  of  the  budget. 
The  establishment,  however,  of  a  popular  cab- 
inet largely  responsible  to  the  legislature  over- 
came the  objection. 

But  there  was  another  difficulty.  Under  Sec- 
tion 21  of  the  Jones  Law  referred  to  above,  it  is 
the  Governor-General  who  is  to  submit  a  "  bud- 
get of  receipts  and  expenditures."  Should  he 
and  not  the  cabinet  draft  the  budget?  In 
the  latter  case,  the  legislature  might  not  be 
willing  to  give  up  its  prerogative  of  preparing 
financial  measures.  Again,  Governor-General 
Harrison  came  to  the  rescue,  and  following  the 
generous  spirit  of  the  Jones  Law,  delegated  to 


THE  PHILIPPINE  BUDGET  SYSTEM          53 

the  cabinet  the  formulation  of  the  budget.  The 
old  practice  of  having  bureau  chiefs  prepare  and 
submit  their  estimates  was  changed.  Their  es- 
timates must  now  go  to  the  Department  head  for 
revision.  The  Governor-General  then  in  a  mes- 
sage sends  the  budget  as  prepared  by  the  Cabinet 
to  the  legislature  for  approval  or  rejection. 

Before  the  preparation  of  the  budget,  a  gen- 
eral line  of  policy  is  first  agreed  upon  by  the 
Cabinet  in  a  meeting  in  which  the  presiding  offi- 
cers of  both  houses  are  also  present.  Once  the 
general  policy  is  agreed  upon,  a  circular  is  sent 
in  July  to  all  offices  and  bureaus  requesting 
them  to  send  in  their  estimates  which  should  in- 
clude the  probable  receipts  and  the  proposed  ex- 
penditures for  the  coming  year.  These  esti- 
mates are  made  under  the  supervision  and  con- 
trol of  the  department  heads  who  have  the  power 
to  cut  down  or  add  items.  These  different  esti- 
mates are  then  submitted  by  the  department 
heads  to  the  Secretary  of  Finance  not  later  than 
August  20th,  of  every  year.  The  main  work  of 
the  Department  of  Finance  is  to  coordinate  the 
different  departmental  estimates  in  accordance 
with  the  general  plan  agreed  upon  at  the  Cab- 
inet meeting.  It  often  happens  that  a  certain 
item  submitted  by  a  departmental  head  is  already 


54       SELF-GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

duplicated  by  another  item  from  a  different  de- 
partment. Any  conflict  between  a  departmental 
head  and  the  Secretary  of  Finance  is  submitted 
to  the  Cabinet  for  the  decision.  The  final  budget 
is  approved  at  the  meeting  of  the  Cabinet,  at 
which  the  presiding  officers  of  the  houses  attend. 

The  presence  of  the  presiding  officers  in  the 
cabinet  meetings  must  be  explained.  The  rea- 
son is  that  the  two  most  prominent  Filipino 
leaders  in  the  government  are  not  members  of 
the  Cabinet  but  are  the  presiding  officers  of  both 
houses.  In  order  therefore  to  fortify  the  posi- 
tion of  the  budget  in  the  legislature,  the  informal 
concurrence  of  the  presiding  officers  was  neces- 
sary. This  rather  anomalous  arrangement  has 
been  done  away  with,  with  the  creation  of  the 
Council  of  State,  composed  of  the  Cabinet  mem- 
bers and  the  presiding  officers  of  both  houses. 
Henceforward  the  budget  will  be  made  by  the 
Council  of  State  and  not  by  the  Cabinet. 

Once  the  budget  is  definitely  approved  by  the 
Cabinet,  or  by  the  Council  of  State,  as  will  be 
the  case  in  the  future,  the  Governor-General  sub- 
mits it  with  a  message  to  the  legislature.  The 
message  is  read  by  the  Secretary  of  Finance  in 
a  joint  session  of  the  legislature.  The  lower 
house,  by  agreement  with  the  upper,  is  the  first 


THE  PHILIPPINE  BUDGET  SYSTEM          55 

one  to  take  up  the  budget.  It  sets  a  date  for 
the  appearance  of  the  Secretary  of  Finance  to 
explain  the  details  of  the  budget  and  to  answer 
all  questions  propounded  by  the  members.  This 
appearance  usually  lasts  five  days  and  full  op- 
portunity is  given  the  minority  party  to  dis- 
cuss the  several  items  of  the  bill.  To  explain 
further  the  details  of  the  budget,  the  individual 
departmental  secretaries  may  be  called,  although 
this  is  not  often  resorted  to,  the  Secretary  of 
Finance  generally  assuming  responsibility  for 
the  whole  budget.  It  is  the  general  rule  in  the 
discussion  of  the  budget  that  the  legislature  may 
diminish  the  estimates,  but  may  not  increase 
them.  Once  the  budget  is  approved  in  princi- 
ple, it  is  sent  to  the  Committee  on  Appropria- 
tions with  instructions  to  draft  the  appropria- 
tion bill  in  accordance  with  the  budget.  This 
Committee  again  examines  the  different  items 
of  the  budget,  then  frames  and  submits  its  ap- 
propriation bill.  The  Committee  generally  fol- 
lows the  instructions  of  the  House  and  suggests 
in  its  bill  only  those  changes  that  are  absolutely 
necessary.  Once  the  appropriation  bill  is  ap- 
proved by  the  House,  it  is  sent  to  the  Senate, 
where  the  Secretary  of  Finance  again  appears  to 
explain  the  different  items  contained  therein. 


56       SELF-GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

The  general  tendency  of  the  Senate  is  to  act  as 
a  sort  of  arbitrator  in  the  differences  between 
the  Cabinet  and  the  House. 

The  financial  plan  of  the  executive  or  Council 
of  State  does  not  cover  all  the  proposed  finan- 
cial activities  of  the  government.  In  its  plan 
it  usually  leaves  a  surplus  for  the  legislature  to 
appropriate  the  way  it  pleases.  This  takes  the 
form  of  new  ventures  and  activities,  like  the  re- 
cent creation  of  the  National  Development  Com- 
pany. The  totality  of  the  English  budgetary 
principle  is  not,  therefore,  as  yet  followed, 
whereby  all  requests  for  money  must  come  from 
the  executive.  But  a  long  and  decisive  step  had 
already  been  taken  towards  financial  reform. 

The  system  is  conceded  by  friends  and  foes  as 
a  decided  improvement  over  the  old  one.  It  is 
considered  one  of  the  greatest  achievements  of 
the  Filipino  people  during  the  last  three  years  of 
Philippine  Autonomy.  It  has  placed  the  Philip- 
pines, to  use  the  words  of  Governor-General  Har- 
rison, "  among  the  foremost  progressive  nations 
in  fiscal  legislation." 

But  it  is  not  only  the  system  of  finance  that 
has  been  changed  and  placed  on  a  scientific  basis. 
We  may  have  the  safest  safe  in  the  world,  but  if 
we  have  nothing  to  put  in  it,  it  would  not  help 


THE  PHILIPPINE  BUDGET  SYSTEM  57 

us  any.  The  Philippines  have  improved  both 
their  financial  system  and  their  finances.  In 
1 913  Governor  Harrison  spoke  of  two  and  a  half 
millions  of  deficit  yearly.  At  the  end  of  1918 
there  was  a  surplus  of  nearly  35,000,000  pesos  in 
the  insular  treasury.  Our  national  debt  is  only 
126,000,000  (in  1919),  for  the  redemption  of 
which  ample  sinking  funds  have  already  been 
provided.  This  is  a  mere  pittance  compared  to 
the  staggering  obligations  incurred  by  the  allied 
nations  during  the  great  war. 


58       SELF-GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 


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CHAPTER  IV 

FILIPINO  LOYALTY  DURING  THE   WAR 

NO  greater  proof  can  be  found  of  the  suc- 
cess of  America's  policy  in  the  Philippines 
than  the  loyalty  and  friendship  the  Filipino  peo- 
ple have  shown  her  during  the  great  war.  Had 
there  been  no  recognition  of  their  right  to  inde- 
pendence, another  story  would  probably  be  told. 
While  the  neighboring  countries  had  to  contend 
with  a  great  deal  of  pro-German  element,  and  in 
some  cases  ministries  had  to  fall  because  of  al- 
leged anti-allied  sentiment,  the  Filipinos  from 
the  beginning  were  heart  and  soul  with  the  cause 
of  the  Allies. 

The  Philippines  were  not  left  out  in  the  world- 
wide plan  of  German  propaganda ;  in  fact,  believ- 
ing that  the  Philippines  were  the  weakest  spot 
of  the  United  States,  the  German  Government 
laid  special  stress  on  the  propagation  of  psy- 
chological material  intended  to  weaken  Ameri- 
ca's prestige  in  the  Islands  and  make  the  Fili- 
pinos distrust  Americans,  and  ultimately  to  bring 

59 


GO       SELF-GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

the  natives  to  their  side.  German  spies  were 
found  in  the  Islands  in  plenty,  and  there  was 
undoubtedly  no  question  but  that  the  German 
people  would  have  given  anything  to  start  a  rev- 
olution in  the  Islands  against  the  sovereignty 
of  the  United  States.  But  all  German  designs 
failed.  The  Filipino  people  remained  faithful 
and  loyal. 

Other  countries  may  have  had  a  chance  of  fur- 
nishing more  direct  aid  to  America  and  the  Al- 
lies, but  the  sincerity  and  enthusiasm  with  which 
the  Filipino  people  espoused  the  cause  of  democ- 
racy has  not  been  equalled  in  the  Orient.  The 
seeds  of  democracy  planted  by  America  have 
borne  fruit.  The  first  resolution  adopted  by  the 
Philippine  legislature  when  it  convened  in  1917 
was  one  of  complete  adherence  to  the  cause  of 
America.  Four  million  pesos  were  immediately 
voted  for  the  construction  of  a  destroyer  and  a 
submarine  to  be  offered  to  the  service  of  Amer- 
ica. The  destroyer  was  launched  on  September 
23,  1918,  under  the  suggestive  name  of  Jose  Ki- 
zal,  our  greatest  national  hero.  The  Filipino 
people  over-subscribed  all  the  Liberty  Bond  al- 
lotments given  them.  In  the  Fourth  Liberty 
Loan,  12,000,000  pesos  was  the  quota  allotted  us, 
and  we  subscribed  25,000,000  pesos.  The  Red 


PHILIPINO  LOYALTY  DURING  THE  WAR       61 

Cross  drive  netted  a  million  pesos.  All  the  men 
and  resources  of  the  Islands  were  offered  to  the 
service  of  the  United  States. 

The  first  Filipino  known  to  fall  in  the  fields 
of  France  under  the  American  flag  —  Private 
Tomas  Claudio  —  was  acclaimed  a  national  hero, 
and  the  National  Guard  Training  Camp  for  Fili- 
pino volunteers  was  fittingly  named  Camp 
Claudio,  after  him.  Six  thousand  Filipinos 
voluntarily  enlisted  in  the  American  Navy, 
and  are  still  serving  as  Uncle  Sam's  sailors. 
Four  thousand  Filipino  laborers  in  Hawaii, 
who  could  have  claimed  exemption  from  the  draft 
under  the  citizenship  clause  of  the  draft  law,  in- 
sisted on  being  enrolled  under  the  Stars  and 
Stripes.  The  loyalty  was  sincere  and  spontan- 
eous on  the  part  of  the  people. 

Presaging  the  inevitable  opening  of  hostili- 
ties, the  Philippine  legislature  passed  an  act 
providing  for  the  organization  of  a  Philippine 
Militia.  It  must  be  remembered  that  since  the 
dispersion  of  the  Philippine  Revolutionary 
forces,  we  have  had  no  army  and,  excepting  the 
5,000  constabulary  soldiers  organized  half-civ- 
illy  and  half  militarily  and  the  other  5,000  Scouts 
in  the  American  Federal  service,  the  people  have 
had  no  military  training  whatever.  More  than 


62       SELF-GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

that,  up  to  1915  the  American  Government  in 
the  Islands  had  discouraged  every  military  or 
quasi-military  society  or  organization.  The  Boy 
Scouts  had  been  disbanded  for  that  reason,  and 
all  secret  societies  were  carefully  watched  to  see 
if  they  had  any  military  object  in  view.  The 
Filipinos  are  not  allowed  to  bear  arms  except 
under  a  special  license  granted  by  the  govern- 
ment. These  facts  will  show  how  little  military 
preparation  the  Filipinos  had  prior  to  the  or- 
ganization of  the  militia. 

Immediately  upon  the  declaration  of  war  the 
Philippines  offered  to  America  the  services  of 
twenty-five  thousand  soldiers  of  the  Philippine 
Militia,  to  be  called  the  National  Guard.  Sen- 
ate President  Quezon,  in  a  special  trip  to  the 
United  States,  urged  in  person  the  acceptance  of 
the  offer  as  a  sign  of  Philippine  loyalty.  In  ex- 
pectation of  the  acceptance  of  the  offer,  a  quota 
of  the  25,000  men  was  assigned  to  each  prov- 
ince, and,  without  resorting  to  draft,  28,000 
men  soon  were  enrolled  ready  to  go  into  train- 
ing. Hundreds  of  our  choice  young  men  - 
the  flower  of  our  youth  —  left  their  high  gov- 
ernmental and  professional  positions  to  join 
America's  colors. 

Our  division  could  probably  have  had  a  chance 


PHILIPINO  LOYALTY  DURING  THE  WAR        63 

of  reaching  France,  of  joining  Pershing's  Army, 
of  helping  sanctify  St.  Mihiel  and  Chatteau 
Thierry  had  it  not  been  for  inexcusable  delay 
in  its  organization.  A  persistent  group  of  men 
in  whose  hands  lay  the  facilities  for  its  organi- 
zation saw  fit  to  frustrate  the  offer  of  the  Fili- 
pino people  and  prevent  our  division  from  leav- 
ing the  Islands.1 

The  offer  was  made  in  April,  1917.  The  law 
authorizing  the  President  to  call  our  National 
Guard  into  federal  service  was  passed  on  Jan- 
uary 3,  1918.  It  took  eight  months  to  get  the 
necessary  legislation  to  enable  the  President  to 
accept  our  offer.  However,  this  was  unavoid- 
able. What  is  unpardonable  was  the  fact  that 
it  took  six  months  more  to  organize  an  Officers' 
School.  The  Department  Commander,  Gen.  R. 
K.  Evans,  and  a  portion  of  his  staff  are  to  blame, 
says  General  Jones.  The  Philippine  Department 
had  naturally  to  be  depended  upon  for  facilities 
for  organization,  for  instructors  and  even  offi- 
cers, and  the  War  Department  had  urged  its  co- 
operation. Instead  of  providing  all  the  neces- 
sary instructors,  the  military  commander  re- 

1 1  am  indebted  for  the  following  facts  regarding  the  his- 
tory of  our  National  Guard  to  the  Adjutant  General,  Gen- 
eral Ralph  W.  Jones. 


64       SELF-GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

leased  only  six  officers  of  the  army  to  assist  in  the 
organization  of  the  Officers'  School,  and  student 
officers  themselves  had  to  be  appointed  on  the 
teaching  and  administrative  staff.  The  long  de- 
lay in  the  organization  of  the  Officers'  School 
caused  many  Americans,  including  a  large  num- 
ber of  Constabulary  officers  who  had  applied  for 
commissions,  to  go  to  the  States  to  enter  training 
camps  there.  General  Evans'  predecessor,  Gen- 
eral Bailey,  had  enthusiastically  supported  the 
idea  of  the  offer,  and  approved  the  plan  of  se- 
curing a  large  percentage  of  the  officers  from  his 
department,  especially  the  Scouts.  A  law  was 
passed  in  Congress  on  April  1,  1918,  to  make 
Scouts  officers  and  enlisted  men  who  might  vol- 
unteer, available  for  service  in  the  National 
Guard.  "  Instead  of  making  officers  available," 
said  Governor  Harrison  in  his  letter  of  June  20, 
1918,  to  General  Evans,  "  you  relieved  from  duty 
with  us  one  American  officer  and  four  Filipino 
Scout  officers  who  were  on  duty  with  us.''  Gen- 
eral Evans  even  refused  to  furnish  tents  to  the 
National  Guard,  claiming  that  none  was  avail- 
able, when  it  was  found  out  afterwards  that  there 
was  plenty  of  tentage  at  the  department.  In 
fact,  with  the  exception  of  some  225  tents,  all 


PHILIPINO  LOYALTY  DURING  THE  WAR       65 

the  others  in  use  in  the  camp  came  from  the 
department.  There  were  some  25,000  surplus 
Springfield  rifles  in  the  military  department,  on 
which  the  National  Guard  counted  for  arma- 
ment. Instead  of  placing  them  at  the  disposal 
of  the  Guard,  General  Evans  suggested  their  re- 
turn to  the  United  States,  and  on  this  suggestion 
the  orders  for  their  transfer  were  issued. 

At  last  the  Governor-General  was  obliged  to 
complain  to  the  Secretary  of  War  for  this  fail- 
ure of  the  Department  Commander  to  cooperate 
in  the  organization  of  the  Guard.  The  complaint 
was  cabled  on  June  9,  1918,  and  orders  were 
immediately  issued  for  the  relief  of  General 
Evans  by  General  Greene,  although  the  latter 
did  not  arrive  in  Manila  until  August  6.  "  With 
no  additional  instructions  to  those  received  by 
General  Evans,"  says  General  Jones,  "  the  new 
Department  Commander  was  able  to  do  every- 
thing that  was  necessary  to  expedite  the  organ- 
ization of  the  Division.  We  were  furnished  ad- 
ditional instructors.  Our  school  was  transferred 
to  Fort  McKinley.  The  preparation  of  the  mo- 
bilization camp  was  pushed. 

"Surplus  supplies  that  were  in  the  Depart- 
ment but  not  previously  available  (?)  were  as- 


66       SELF-GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

sembled  for  use  of  the  Division.  Pressure  was 
brought  to  bear  to  expedite  the  promised  ship- 
ments from  the  United  States. 

"  So  rapidly  did  we  progress  that  on  Novem- 
ber llth,  we  completed  mobilization  of  the  Divi- 
sion at  Camp  Claudio.  This  was  just  four 
months  and  six  days  after  the  opening  of  our 
Officers'  School." 

But  it  was  already  too  late.  On  the  same 
date,  November  eleventh,  the  armistice  was  vir- 
tually signed.  It  was  with  regret  that  the  Fili- 
pino people  heard  of  the  signing  of  the  armis- 
tice, with  their  Philippine  National  Guard  still 
on  Philippine  soil.  Had  the  Philippines  been 
independent  from  the  beginning  of  the  war,  they 
could  have  given  immediate  military  aid  to  the 
United  States  in  the  holy  crusade  against  Prus- 
sian autocracy.  The  people  were  back  of  the 
United  States,  their  loyalty  was  sincere,  and 
their  desire  to  help  the  cause  of  democracy  was 
greater  than  that  of  any  Oriental  people.  If 
they  had  not  been  obliged  to  depend  upon  the 
American  Government,  or  its  military  depart- 
ment in  the  Philippines,  for  supplies,  guns,  tents 
and  officers,  and  had  they  had  a  free  hand  in  the 
organization  and  equipment  of  their  National 
Guard,  they  would  have  been  able  to  muster  all 


PHILIPINO  LOYALTY  DURING  THE  WAR       67 

their  men  and  send  them  out  to  France  in  time 
to  participate  in  the  great  battles  fought  by  the 
American  Army,  and  the  Peace  Conference 
would  have  seen  representatives  of  the  only  Chris- 
tian people  in  the  Orient  participating  in  the 
political  and  economic  reconstruction  of  the 
world. 

The  different  governmental  departments  also 
did  their  bit  for  the  prosecution  of  the  war. 
The  Bureau  of  Education  carried  on  a  nation- 
wide educational  campaign.  It  subsidized  a 
Philippine  News  Review  which  did  much  in 
the  propagation  of  the  causes  and  principles  un- 
derlying the  war.  It  was  placed  in  the  hands  of 
high  school  and  intermediate  pupils,  and  was  dis- 
cussed in  the  class-room  under  the  guidance  of 
the  teacher  in  charge.  Through  the  pupils,  thou- 
sands and  thousands  of  parents,  who  have  no 
newspaper  available  to  keep  them  conversant 
with  current  facts,  were  reached.  Forty  thou- 
sand copies  of  a  war  catechism  were  distributed 
in  the  intermediate  and  secondary  schools.  Red 
Cross  lantern  views  were  made  available  to  illus- 
trate the  war  activities. 

With  the  cooperation  of  the  Bureau  of  Agri- 
culture, the  Bureau  of  Education  carried  on  a 
campaign  to  increase  food  production.  Dur- 


68       SELF-GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

ing  1918,  the  schools  increased  the  number  of 
gardens  from  50,000  to  more  than  100,000. 
There  are  now  more  than  100,000  pupils  engaged 
in  food  production,  under  the  supervision  of 
their  teachers.  Under  the  auspices  of  the  Bu- 
reau of  Agriculture,  provincial  and  municipal 
food  committees  were  established  to  further  food 
production.  The  Woman's  Club  of  Manila  also 
helped  in  the  campaign  for  food  production  with 
the  establishment  of  branches  all  over  the  Philip- 
pines. These  civic  clubs  control  house  lots  for 
gardening.  There  are  at  present  132,721  of  these 
lots.  A  home  garden  contest  has  been  organized 
for  each  province,  which  is  proving  a  great  in- 
centive to  the  people  to  take  an  interest  in  home 
gardening. 

The  Red  Cross  Chapter  of  the  Philippines 
has  done  its  share  in  war  work.  Filipino 
branches  and  auxiliaries  have  been  organized 
to  cooperate  with  the  American  unit.  The 
Junior  Red  Cross  has  about  80,000  members 
in  the  public  and  private  schools  of  the  Philip- 
pines. Among  the  hospital  supplies  and  gar- 
ments for  refugee  children  which  were  made  in 
the  school  were  included  13,000  abdominal  band- 
ages, 3,500  triangular  bandages,  and  33,000  ref- 
ugee garments  for  French  and  Belgian  children. 


Photograph  by  Philippine  Bureau  of  Science,  Manila 

BATTALION  CEREMONIES,  PHILIPPINE  NATIONAL  GUARD 


MODERN  METHOD  OF  PLOWING  LAND  FOR  SUGAR  CANE    PRODUC- 
TION IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 


© 


PHILIPINO  LOYALTY  DURING  THE  WAR       69 

In  addition  to  this,  over  7,000.00  pesos'  worth 
of  woolen  undershirts  were  bought  with  Junior 
Red  Cross  funds  and  rushed  to  Siberia  for  ref- 
ugee work.  The  Philippine  Bureau  of  Science 
has  cooperated  with  the  Chemical  Warfare  Serv- 
ice of  the  United  States  Army  in  an  effort  to 
produce  in  the  Archipelago  the  greater  possible 
amount  of  cocoanut-shell  gas-mask  charcoal. 

The  severe  pinch  of  war  was  naturally  felt 
in  the  Philippines.  The  prices  of  articles  of 
prime  necessity  rose  almost  beyond  the  reach  of 
our  common  people.  But  they  bore  the  abnor- 
mal conditions  with  patience  and  resignation, 
merely  petitioning  the  Government  to  intervene 
in  the  regulation  of  prices  in  order  to  protect 
the  masses  from  starvation.  Typical  of  their 
conduct  was  the  manifestation  made  by  more 
than  20,000  laborers,  men  and  women,  who  pa- 
raded through  the  streets  of  Manila  and  then 
gathered  before  the  Ayuntamiento  to  hand  a  pe- 
tition to  the  Government  requesting  the  neces- 
sary action  to  reduce  the  prices  of  foodstuffs  and 
other  necessities  of  life.  Such  a  manifestation 
carried  on  in  the  most  peaceful  and  orderly  man- 
ner had  probably  no  parallel  in  any  other  war- 
amicted  country. 

Owing  to  economic  difficulties  consequent  upon 


70       SELF-GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

the  world  war,  some  people  would  naturally  sup- 
pose that  brigandage  and  criminality  would  be  a 
common  occurrence.  But  no.  Our  people  gave 
the  least  concern  and  embarrassment  to  the  au- 
thorities. During  the  four  years  of  war,  com- 
plete peace  reigned  in  the  Philippines.  Amer- 
ica, uniting  all  her  efforts  to  the  prosecution 
of  the  war  against  the  common  enemy,  took 
away  the  few  thousand  American  white  soldiers 
she  had  in  the  Islands.  We  answered  that  ac- 
tion by  offering  25,000  men  ourselves. 

One  would  expect  that  our  campaign  for  in- 
dependence would  have  been  renewed  with 
greater  energy,  that  the  war  was  the  opportunity 
for  an  agitation  requesting  the  United  States 
to  fulfill  her  pledge  to  the  Filipino  people.  But 
the  Filipino  people  restrained  all  agitation  for 
independence.  All  their  work  was  one  of  patient 
cooperation,  apparently  forgetting  for  the  time 
being  their  own  cause.  During  the  two  years 
that  the  United  States  was  in  the  war,  there 
was  not  an  attempt  made  to  remind  America 
of  the  Philippine  problem.  "  With  fine  self-re- 
straint," said  Secretary  of  War  Baker,  "  the  Fili- 
pino people  refrained  from  active  discussion  of 
this  question,  deeming  it  inopportune  at  the  time, 
and  threw  all  of  their  energies  and  all  of  their 


PHILIPINO  LOYALTY  DURING  THE  WAR       71 

resources  into  the  common  scale  with  the  peo- 
ple of  the  United  States."  The  reason  is  not 
far  to  seek.  The  Filipino  people  were  convinced 
of  the  sincerity  of  the  American  people.  Be- 
sides, America's  cause  in  the  war  was  really  the 
Philippines'  own  cause  writ  large  on  the  world's 
map. 

"  What  we  demand,"  said  President  Wilson, 
"  is  that  the  world  be  made  safe  .  .  .  for  every 
peace  loving  nation  which,  like  our  own,  wishes 
to  live  its  own  life,  determine  its  own  institu- 
tions, be  assured  of  justice  and  fair  dealing  by 
the  other  peoples  of  the  world  as  against  force 
and  selfish  aggression." l  Again :  "  We  are 
glad  ...  to  fight  .  .  .  for  the  rights  of  nations, 
great  and  small,  and  the  privilege  of  men  every- 
where to  choose  their  way  of  life  and  obedience 
.  .  .  for  democracy,  for  the  right  of  those  who 
submit  to  authority  to  have  a  voice  in  their  own 
governments,  for  the  rights  and  liberties  of  small 
nations."  2  "  Every  people  should  be  left  free 
to  determine  its  own  polity,  its  own  way  of  de- 
velopment, unhindered,  unthreatened,  unafraid, 
Hi 3  little  along  with  the  great  and  powerful."8 

1  President  Wilson,  January  8,  1918. 

2  Ibid.,  April  3,  1917. 
alUd.,  January  22,  1915. 


72       SELF-GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

"  Peace  should  rest  upon  the  rights  of  people, 
not  the  rights  of  the  government  —  the  rights  of 
people  great  and  small,  weak  and  powerful, — 
their  equal  rights  to  freedom  and  security  and 
self-government  and  to  participation  upon  fair 
terms  in  the  economic  opportunities  of  the 
world."  *  These  are  the  very  same  principles 
which  have  guided  the  political  aspirations  of 
the  Filipino  people  since  Admiral  Dewey's  ar- 
rival in  Manila  Bay.  Self-determination  and 
the  consent  of  the  governed  were  the  very 
same  principles  we  invoked  when  we  demanded 
to  be  heard  at  the  Paris  Treaty  Conference  in 
1898;  they  were  the  very  same  principles  which 
made  the  Filipinos  wage  a  disastrous  and  un- 
equal war  rather  than  unconditionally  sub- 
mit to  American  sovereignty;  they  were  the 
very  same  principles  we  invoked  when,  de- 
feated in  war,  we  had  to  appeal  to  the  spirit  of 
justice  and  fair-dealing  of  the  American  peo- 
ple; and  they  were  the  very  same  principles 
which  triumphed  in  the  passage  of  the  Jones  Law, 
formally  declaring  the  purpose  of  the  people  of 
the  United  States  to  recognize  the  independence 
of  the  Philippines  as  soon  as  a  stable  government 
can  be  established  therein. 

i  President  Wilson,  August  27,  1917. 


PHILIPINO  LOYALTY  DURING  THE  WAR       73 

Upon  the  termination  of  hostilities  in  Europe, 
the  Philippine  Legislature  unanimously  adopted 
a  resolution  expressing  "  the  gratitude  of  the 
Filipino  people  to  the  United  States  for  the  part 
they  were  allowed  to  take  in  the  most  far  reach- 
ing enterprise  ever  undertaken  by  Democracy." 
"  The  Filipino  people,"  the  resolutions  read, 
"  who  unqualifiedly  sided  with  the  United  States 
when  the  war  was  thrust  upon  her,  hereby  renew 
their  adherence  to  the  noble  purposes  sought  in 
this  war  and  they  place  themselves  again,  as 
heretofore,  at  the  pleasure  of  the  American  peo- 
ple, ready  to  contribute  their  modest,  but  cordial 
and  determined  service  in  the  forthcoming  task 
of  reconstruction  and  peace.  The  Filipino  peo- 
ple believe  that  Providence  in  choosing  the  Amer- 
ican people  as  the  leaders  in  this  stupendous  and 
immortal  enterprise,  has  ordained  in  His  high 
designs,  that  through  the  complete  development 
and  application  to  all  peoples  of  the  principles 
which  have  given  birth  to  the  United  States,  the 
fruit  of  victory,  gained  at  the  cost  of  untold 
sacrifice,  shall  not  have  come  to  naught.  That 
the  world  be  made  safe  for  Democracy;  that  the 
rights  and  liberties  of  the  small  nations  be  for- 
ever secured  and  guaranteed;  that  the  people, 
desiring  to  be  free,  be  liberated  and  allowed  to  es- 


74       SELF-GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

tablish,  without  fear  or  hindrance,  a  government 
of  their  own  choosing  and  to  change  it  at  will, 
when  so  demanded  by  their  best  interest;  that 
the  weak  be  not  at  the  mercy  of  the  strong  and 
that  the  spirit  of  selfishness  and  domination  be 
destroyed  and  that  there  be  established  in  its 
place,  amongst  all  free  men  of  the  world,  a  new 
kingdom  of  constructive  and  equalitarian  justice, 
based  upon  foundations  that  will  make  it  uni- 
versally secure  and  permanent.  And  when  all 
these  things  shall  have  been  accomplished,  the 
universal  belief  shall  have  been  confirmed,  that 
the  war  which  has  happily  ended  has  been  fought 
in  the  interest  of  free  humanity  and  the  ever- 
lasting peace  of  the  world." 

President  Wilson  officially  recognized  the 
identity  of  Philippine  ideals  with  those  of  Amer- 
ica, and,  through  the  Governor-General,  an- 
swered the  foregoing  resolutions  as  follows: 

"I  have  read  with  profound  interest  and  gratifica- 
tion the  admirable  resolutions  passed  by  the  Legisla- 
ture of  the  Philippine  Islands  in  recognition  of  the 
termination  of  hostilities,  and  beg  that  you  will  con- 
vey to  the  Legislature  not  only  my  most  cordial  greet- 
ings but  an  expression  of  my  profound  gratitude  that 
the  association  of  the  Philippine  Islands  with  the 
United  States  should  have  issued  in  a  perfect  harmony 


PHILIPINO  LOYALTY  DURING  THE  WAR        75 

of  ideals  and  feeling  and  should  have  brought  about 
that  real  friendship  and  mutual  support  which  is  the 
foundation  of  all  sound  political  policy.  I  hope  and 
believe  that  the  future  holds  brighter  fortunes  for 
states  which  have  hitherto  been  the  prey  of  great  pow- 
ers and  will  realize  for  all  the  world  the  offers  of  jus- 
tice and  peace  which  have  prompted  the  magnificent 
cooperations  of  the  present  war." 

"WooDRow  WILSON." 


CHAPTER  V 

ECONOMIC   DEVELOPMENT 

THERE  have  been  a  few  people  who  be- 
lieved that  a  policy  of  independence  would 
stagnate  business,  and  halt  the  economic  develop- 
ment of  the  Islands.  To  them  the  mere  mention 
of  independence  by  the  American  Government 
would  be  enough  to  scare  prospective  capital 
away.  Before  taking  his  oath  of  office,  Presi- 
dent-elect Woodrow  Wilson,  in  a  speech  in  1912, 
delivered  at  Staunton,  Virginia,  made  what 
would  now  be  considered  a  harmless  statement 
to  the  effect  that  he  hoped  that  the  Philippines 
would  be  soon  out  of  the  frontiers  of  the  United 
States.  When  news  of  that  speech  reached  the 
Islands,  said  an  American  correspondent  to  the 
New  York  Herald,  "  like  a  clock  in  a  house 
shaken  by  an  earthquake,  that  new-found  busi- 
ness expansion  stopped;  like  a  pulse  in  the 
body  struck  by  lightning,  the  current  of  its  life 
ceased  to  throb.  Capitalists  accustomed  to  place 
their  money  through  brokers  on  commercial 

76 


ECONOMIC  DEVELOPMENT  77 

loans,  drew  in  their  funds;  insurance  compan- 
ies and  other  institutions  that  had  been  invest- 
ing their  surpluses  in  local  enterprises  closed 
their  doors  to  such  transactions." 

The  idea  contained  in  the  President's  speech 
was  re-echoed  by  Governor-General  Harrison 
upon  his  arrival  in  the  Philippines,  and  was 
solemnly  ratified  by  the  American  Congress  when 
it  passed  the  Jones  Law,  declaring  it  to  be  the 
purpose  of  the  United  States  to  give  the  Philip- 
pines their  independence  as  soon  as  a  stable 
government  could  be  established  therein.  Six 
years  have  already  elapsed  since  President  Wil- 
son's statement  reached  the  Philippines  and 
nearly  three  years  since  the  passage  of  the  Jones 
Law;  but  the  announced  business  calamity  has 
failed  to  materialize.  On  the  contrary,  the  last 
five  years  have  been  for  the  Philippines  the  years 
of  greatest  prosperity  and  highest  economic  de- 
velopment. The  total  trade  of  the  Philippines 
in  1918  was  468,563,496  pesos,  as  against  202,- 
171,484  pesos  in  1913.  In  1918,  63.4  per  cent  of 
our  trade  went  to  the  United  States,  as  com- 
pared with  42.65  per  cent  in  1913,  a  fatal  proof 
of  the  distrust  of  American  capitalists  and  busi- 
ness men  in  a  prospective  independent  Philip- 
pines ! 


78       SELF-GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

If  the  years  of  Philippine  autonomy  and  prep- 
aration for  independence  has  meant,  econom- 
ically, anything,  it  is  a  much  closer  commercial 
relation  with  the  United  States.  Whoever  in- 
vented the  theory  that  commerce  is  impersonal 
and  independent  of  political  and  cordial  rela- 
tions will  find  food  for  thought  in  Filipino- 
American  economic  relations,  for  in  the  latter 
case  mutual  political  confidence  and  understand- 
ing has  meant  greater  economic  intercourse,  and 
distrust  and  misunderstandings  have  made  for 
meager  economic  relations. 

The  principal  countries  which  are  benefited 
by  the  foreign  trade  of  the  Philippines  are  listed 
on  the  next  page,  showing  the  order  in  bulk  of 
the  share  of  each  in  the  years  1913  and  1918. 

Even  in  the  carrying  trade  a  closer  economic 
relation  with  the  United  States  has  been  brought 
about.  Of  the  total  trade  of  the  United  States 
in  1914,  British  vessels  carried  125,674,628 
pesos;  vessels  of  American  registry  second  with 
20,434,000  pesos'  worth  of  goods;  German,  a 
close  third  with  14,991,674  pesos'  worth;  Japa- 
nese fourth  with  14.609,810  pesos;  and  the  re- 
mainder was  carried  by  Spanish,  Norwegian  and 
other  nationalities. 

In  1917,  the  British  carrying  trade  dropped 


ECONOMIC  DEVELOPMENT 


79 


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80       SELF-GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

to  109,537,765  pesos  out  of  322,802,674  pesos, 
although  they  easily  stood  first.  The  nearest 
competitor  in  this  carrying  trade  were  the  Jap- 
anese, with  87,285,927  pesos.  Vessels  of  Amer- 
ican registry  stood  third  with  74,800,161  pesos, 
and  the  remainder  was  divided  among  Nor- 
wegian, Spanish,  Philippine  and  others. 

In  the  year  1918,  however,  a  marked  change 
was  noticed,  for  American  vessels  occupied  the 
first  place  with  a  total  of  162,861,635,  followed 
by  the  British  with  121,975,745,  then  the  Japa- 
nese a  close  third  with  107,698,918,  the  Norwe- 
gian fourth  with  17,589,898,  the  Philippine  with 
15,568,718,  the  Danish  with  13,078,701,  the  Chi- 
nese, the  Dutch,  the  Spanish  and  a  few  others 
the  rest. 

Another  "  platitude  "  that  was  given  currency 
in  the  Philippines  was  that  the  economic  inde- 
pendence must  precede  political  independence 
and  that  therefore  the  people  should  quit  de- 
manding political  rights  and  work  for  economic 
independence  first.  Our  experience  of  the  last 
five  years  has  meant  just  the  opposite:  that  no 
people  can  advance  economically  unless  the 
political  instrumentalities  are  given  them  first; 
that  the  greatest  instrument  of  economic  prog- 
ress is  political  autonomy. 


ECONOMIC  DEVELOPMENT  81 

Before  the  extension  of  Philippine  autonomy, 
with  credit  and  banking  facilities  in  the  hands 
of  foreigners,  the  Filipino  business  men  and 
manufacturers  could  not  compete  with  their 
rivals  for  lack  of  credit.  Commerce  was  in 
reality  in  the  hands  of  foreigners.  But  the  es- 
tablishment of  political  autonomy  saw  a  phe- 
nomenal growth  in  the  business  activities  of 
the  people.  A  Philippine  National  Bank  was 
established  by  the  Government,  which  would  not 
shut  its  doors  to  Filipino  enterprise,  and  from 
barely  20,000,000  in  1916,  the  bank's  resources 
increased  to  more  than  230,000,000  pesos  in  1918. 
This  is  probably  unprecedented  in  the  history 
of  banking. 

The  total  foreign  commerce  in  1913  was  $107,- 
685,742  with  a  balance  against  her  of  $5,500,000, 
while  last  year,  1918,  her  foreign  commerce 
reached  $234,281,747  with  a  balance  of  trade  in 
her  favor  of  $37,083,324,  or  an  increase  of  $133,- 
196,005  of  the  1918  trade  over  that  of  1913,  an 
increase  of  131  per  centum  from  1913  to  1918. 

With  respect  to  our  monetary  circulation,  we 
had  in  1913,  or  a  year  before  the  war,  $25,348,626 
or  $2.76  per  capita,  while  at  present  we  have  in 
circulation  $66,301,484,  or  $6.74  per  capita. 

Taxation   in   the   Philippines  was  $2.14   per 


82       SELF-GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

capita  in  1913  as  compared  with  f  2.68  per  capita 
in  1917. 

A  true  sign  of  the  notable  development  which 
up  to  this  time  has  been  shown  in  the  com- 
merce of  our  country  are  the  3,065  domestic 
corporations  and  partnerships  organized  in  the 
Islands  during  the  last  few  years  with  a  capital 
aggregating  P452,192,197.43,  not  to  mention  95 
large  American  and  a  considerable  number  of 
world-famed  foreign  concerns  with  enormous 
additional  capital,  also  having  agencies  and 
branches  in  the  Islands. 

The  Filipino  people,  freed  from  misgivings 
as  to  the  political  future  of  their  country,  have 
begun  in  earnest  to  attend  to  the  economic  de- 
velopment of  the  Islands.  A  bureau  of  com- 
merce and  industry  has  been  created  by  the 
Philippine  Legislature,  to  foster  commerce.  A 
large  amount  was  also  appropriated  to  finance 
scholarships  abroad,  and  many  deserving  young 
men  have  thus  been  enabled  to  acquire  extensive 
business  education  abroad.  Only  a  few  years 
ago  promising  young  men  were  urged  to  study 
only  law  or  medicine.  Today  agricultural,  in- 
dustrial and  commercial  pursuits  are  no  longer 
despised.  The  Filipinos  are  fast  learning 
business  organization  and  management  from  the 


ECONOMIC  DEVELOPMENT  83 

Americans.  Ten  years  ago  the  commercial  as- 
pirations of  the  few  who  had  the  audacity  to 
seek  financial  backing  from  their  countrymen 
for  some  enterprise  were  cooled  by  the  distrust 
and  pessimism  of  the  people.  Today  the  whole 
country  has  caught  the  fever  of  commercial  ex- 
pansion, and  business  undertakings  are  spring- 
ing up  everywhere  with  Filipino  capital  and 
management. 

The  unprecedented  success  of  the  Philippine 
National  Bank  during  its  two  years  of  exist- 
ence is  an  eloquent  testimony  of  the  business 
capacity  of  the  Filipinos.  For  the  first  time  in 
the  history  of  the  Islands,  native  Filipinos  have 
been  put  at  the  head  of  a  banking  institution. 
Almost  all  of  the  officials  of  the  Philippine  Na- 
tional Bank  are  Filipinos,  and  with  the  oppor- 
tunities afforded  by  the  Bank  to  the  young  men 
in  its  employ  to  master  the  intricacies  of  bank- 
ing, the  institution  will  further  benefit  the  com- 
munity by  the  trained  men  it  will  turn  out  to 
help  organize  and  manage  future  banking  in- 
stitutions, which  are  indispensable  to  commercial 
prosperity. 

The  Hogar  Filipino  is  a  mutual  savings  as- 
sociation, and  constitutes  the  maiden  effort  of 
the  Filipinos  in  this  line  of  business.  The  sue- 


84       SELF-GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

cess  of  the  association  is  beyond  doubt  and  its 
financial  soundness  beyond  question. 

Notable  among  the  engineering  concerns  of 
the  Islands  are  the  Earnshaws  Slipways  and 
Engineering  Company,  capitalized  at  6,000,000 
pesos;  the  Philippine  Engineering  Company, 
capitalized  at  250,000  pesos,  and  El  Varadero 
de  Manila. 

The  Insurance  field  has  not  been  left  un- 
touched by  the  Filipinos  either.  The  Insular 
Life  Assurance  Company  is  the  earliest  among 
such  ventures,  and  the  success  it  has  achieved 
has  stimulated  interest  in  the  insurance  business. 
The  Filipinas,  Compania  de  Seguros,  capital 
1,000,000  pesos,  accepts  property  and  marine 
risks  as  well  as  life.  The  National  Insurance 
Company,  capital  5,000,000  pesos,  is  of  recent 
origin  and  so  far  has  limited  itself  to  marine 
insurance.  In  the  realm  of  fidelity  and  employ- 
ers' liability  insurance  stands  foremost  the 
Philippine  Guaranty  Company,  capital  250,000 
pesos. 

Shipping,  especially  interisland,  has  also  re- 
ceived the  attention  it  deserves  of  the  Filipinos. 
Madrigal  and  Company  is  the  biggest  shipping 
concern  in  the  Philippines  today.  This  com- 
pany operates  about  twelve  ships,  which,  out- 


ECONOMIC  DEVELOPMENT  85 

going,  transport  sugar,  hemp  and  other  Island 
products  to  Japan  and  China,  and,  incoming, 
supply  the  country  with  coal  and  rice.  The 
Compania  Maritima  has  a  fleet  of  interisland 
steamers  which  connect  Manila  with  the  south- 
ern ports.  The  Yangco  Steamship  Company, 
capitalized  at  4,000,000  pesos,  operates  a  line  of 
steamboats  between  Manila  and  the  nearby 
towns  and  adjacent  ports.  Fernandez  Her- 
manos  is  another  shipping  concern  which  is  fast 
acquiring  additional  ships.  La  Compania 
Naviera,  organized  only  in  1918,  is  also  acquir- 
ing steamers  for  the  interisland  trade. 

In  the  cocoanut  oil  business  the  Filipinos  were 
not  caught  sleeping.  The  millions  they  invested 
in  the  oil  business  proves  that  enterprise  is  not 
dead  in  them.  Many  big  oil  factories  in  Manila 
at  present  are  purely  Filipino  in  capital  and 
management. 

The  Compania  Mercantil  de  Filipinas  is  a 
close  competitor  of  the  foreign  import  and  ex- 
port houses  in  the  Philippines  today.  In  two 
years  its  business  has  expanded  considerably  and 
bids  fair  to  outstrip  similar  foreign  concerns 
within  a  few  years.  This  firm  is  a  credit  to  its 
managers  and  founders.  There  are  scores  of 
Filipino  export  and  import  firms  similar  to  this, 


86       SELF-GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

though  of  smaller  proportions,  and  indications 
are  that  their  business  is  booming. 

Other  commercial  and  industrial  ventures 
worthy  of  note  as  pioneers  in  their  line  are  the 
Philippine  Tannery  Company,  and  the  Philip- 
pine Net  and  Braid  Manufacturing  Company. 
The  San  Miguel  Brewery,  incorporated  at  4,000,- 
000  pesos,  have  been  engaged  exclusively  in  beer 
manufacture,  and  Ayala  Y  Cia.  are  preeminent 
in  the  distillery  and  alcohol  business. 

The  majority  of  the  cigar  and  cigarette  fac- 
tories in  Manila  are  owned  and  operated  by  the 
Filipinos.  The  first  of  these  factories  is  La 
Germinal,  which  has  acquired  local  and  interna- 
tional fame  as  producer  of  high-class  cigars  and 
cigarettes. 

The  writer,  at  a  Lake  Mohonk  confeience, 
heard  the  argument  that  the  minute  the  Filipinos 
were  given  political  freedom,  the  public  improve- 
ments so  magnificently  built  by  American  offi- 
cials would  be  neglected,  and  that  grass  would 
begin  to  grow  on  the  splendid  roads  and  streets 
of  the  Islands. 

At  the  end  of  1914,  there  were  only  2,317.6 
kilometers  of  first  class  road  maintained  by  the 
caminero  (cantonmier)  system.  The  length 
was  nearly  doubled  at  the  end  of  1918,  there 


ECONOMIC  DEVELOPMENT  87 

being  now  4,023.4  kilometers  of  first  class  road 
maintained  (see  Report  of  Bureau  of  Public 
Works  for  1918).  At  the  time  of  Governor- 
General  Forbes,  whose  main  boast  was  his 
achievement  in  public  works,  the  government 
rarely  spent  over  3,000,000  pesos  a  year.  The 
appropriation  for  1919  for  public  works  alone 
is  17,000,000  pesos. 

The  artesian  wells  which  are  proving  such 
wonderful  health  measures  for  the  people  of  the 
Philippines  have  also  increased  in  numbers. 
There  are  now  893  wells  as  against  only  250  in 
1913. 

The  Philippine  Government  has  successfully 
followed  a  policy  of  nationalizing  and  controll- 
ing industries  when  the  public  welfare  demanded 
such  a  step.  It  took  over  the  Manila  Railroad 
Company,  enlarged  its  activities,  and  made 
it  a  much  more  efficient  means  of  transporta- 
tion. It  is  now  (1918)  operated  with  a  million 
dollar  profit  every  year.  A  law  has  recently 
passed  to  extend  the  lines  so  that  it  will  only 
be  a  question  of  time  when  the  island  of  Luzon 
will  be  crossed  by  railroads  from  one  end  to 
the  other. 

Several  years  ago  the  government  established 
a  Sugar  Central  Board  to  further  the  develop- 


88       SELF-GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

ment  of  sugar  centrals  in  the  Islands.  It  should 
be  remembered  that  the  principal  source  of 
wealth  of  Cuba  and  Hawaii  is  the  sugar-cane. 
The  last  few  years  have  seen  a  tremendous 
growth  of  this  industry,  and  it  will  only  be  a 
question  of  years  when  the  Philippines  will  sur- 
pass Hawaii  in  the  production  of  sugar.  Since 
1913  in  the  island  of  Negros  alone,  over  thirty 
million  pesos  have  been  invested  in  sugar  mills, 
or  centrals,  as  they  are  called  in  the  Philippines. 

In  the  development  of  resources  which  are  un- 
touched by  private  enterprise,  the  Philippine 
Government  has  taken  the  lead.  In  order  to 
supply  the  need  for  coal,  the  price  of  which  in- 
creased tremendously  during  the  war,  the  Na- 
tional Coal  Company  has  been  established  with 
the  government  as  the  chief  stockholder.  In  or- 
der to  aid  more  effectively  the  general  economic 
development  of  the  country;  to  suppress  profit- 
eering, and  to  aid  and  foster  all  legitimate  busi- 
ness enterprises,  a  National  Development  Com- 
pany has  been  organized,  capitalized  at  fifty 
million  pesos. 

In  the  solution  of  labor  troubles  the  Govern- 
ment has  also  taken  a  very  deep  interest.  The 
completely  Filipinized  legislature  passed  a  law 
creating  a  Bureau  of  Labor  to  serve  as  mediator 


ECONOMIC  DEVELOPMENT  89 

between  labor  and  capital.  It  must  be  of  in- 
terest to  the  laborers  here  to  know  that  both  the 
Director  and  the  Assistant  Director  of  the 
Bureau  are  labor  leaders.  We  have  no  com- 
pulsory arbitration  of  labor  disputes  in  the 
Philippines,  but  voluntary  mediation  has  been 
successfully  applied.  The  Philippine  Legisla- 
ture has  facilitated  the  acquisition  by  laborers 
of  homesteads,  and  is  undertaking  a  policy  of 
financing  settlers  who  want  to  migrate  to  the  less 
densely  populated  islands  like  Mindanao.  They 
supply  capital  and  work-animals  to  laborers  who 
desire  to  go  into  these  thinly  populated  districts. 
The  system  is  built  on  a  basis  similar  to  the 
Land  Settlement  Act  of  California.  That  there 
is  harmony  between  labor  and  government  in 
the  Philippines  is  proven  by  the  fact  that,  ac- 
cording to  a  cable  message  from  Manila,  one 
hundred  and  twenty-one  labor  leaders  recently 
agreed  not  to  declare  any  strikes  while  the 
Philippine  Mission,  sent  by  the  Philippine  Legis- 
lature, is  in  the  United  States  working  for  inde- 
pendence. 

The  Government  control  of  charities  must  also 
be  mentioned.  The  Public  Welfare  Board  has 
been  organized  to  supervise  and  organize  all 
governmental  aids  to  charity  and  to  apportion 


90       SELF-GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

government  funds  to  the  needy  charitable  in- 
stitutions. The  government  maintains  special 
institutions  for  the  defective.  There  is  a  school 
for  the  deaf  and  blind  in  Manila.  There  are 
orphanages  and  reformatories  for  young  offend- 
ers, and  a  juvenile  court  will  be  soon  established 
if  the  bill  recently  introduced  should  become 
law.  The  Philippine  Health  Service,  now  un- 
der a  Filipino  chief,  has  established  free  dis- 
pensaries in  every  part  of  the  Philippines  where 
poor  people  can  receive  free  treatment.  There 
is  a  Leper  Colony  established  at  Culion  where 
lepers  are  treated  and  from  which  several  of 
them  have  already  left  after  it  was  successfully 
demonstrated  that  they  were  completely  cured. 

There  is  no  reason  why  the  Filipino  people, 
under  the  present  or  any  other  government,  will 
not  be  able  to  continue  the  economic  develop- 
ment of  the  country,  opening  their  doors  to  all 
foreign  investment.  There  is  probably  no  other 
country  in  the  Orient  which  welcomes  foreign 
capital  more  than  the  Philippines.  This  is  more 
true  in  the  case  of  American  capital.  In  fact, 
the  Filipinos  do  not  consider  American  capital 
foreign.  All  sorts  of  facilities  are  given  to 
Americans  who  desire  to  do  business  in  the 
Philippines.  There  is  nothing  in  the  laws  of 


91 

the  Islands  that  is  antagonistic  to  American 
capital,  and  the  attitude  of  the  people  towards 
it  cannot  be  more  pleasant  and  favorable. 
Scores  of  great  American  corporations  are  doing 
business  in  the  Islands,  while  millions  of  Amer- 
ican money  find  their  way  into  the  capitaliza- 
tion of  companies  incorporated  under  the  laws 
of  the  Islands. 

There  is  a  place  for  everybody  in  the  Philip- 
pines. The  Filipinos  realize  that  American 
brains,  capital  and  initiative  constitute  a  great 
factor  in  the  development  of  their  resources  and 
in  placing  the  Philippines  on  the  high  road  to 
prosperity  and  wealth. 


CHAPTER  VI 

PROGRESS  OF  LOCAL  GOVERNMENT1 

THE  Philippines  are  politically  sub-divided 
into  provinces,  and  these  in  turn  into 
municipalities  and  townships.  There  are  forty- 
five  provinces,  divided  into  thirty-three  regular 
provinces  and  twelve  special  provinces.2  The 
regular  provinces  are  inhabited  by  Christian 
peoples  and  are  financially  self-supporting. 
The  special  provinces  contain  non-Christian 
people  as  well  as  Christians,  but  are  not  far 
enough  developed  to  be  on  an  equal  footing  with 
the  regular  provinces.  There  has  been  a  ten- 

1  This  Chapter  is  taken  mostly  from  a  special  memorandum 
to  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  by  the  Chief  of  the  Executive 
Bureau. 

2  The  regularly  organized  provinces  are  Albay,  Ambos,  Ca- 
marines,  Antique,  Bataan,  Batangas,  Bohol,  Bulacan,  Cagayan, 
Capiz,  Cavite,  Cebu,  Ilocos  Norte,  Ilocos  Sur,  Iloilo,  Isabela, 
Laguna,  La  Union,  Leyte,  Misamis,  Nueva  Ecija,  Occidental 
Negros,  Oriental  Negros,  Pampanga,  Pangasinan,  Rizal,  Samar, 
Sorsogon,  Surigao,  Tarlac,  Tayabas,  Sambales,  Abra,  Romblon. 

The  special  provinces  are  Batanes,  Mindoro,  Mountain 
Province,  Neuva  Vi/eaya,  Palawan,  Agusan,  Bukidnon,  Cota- 
bato,  Davao,  Lanao,  Sulu  and  Zamboanga. 

92 


93 

dency  on  the  part  of  large  provinces  to  split  up 
into  two  or  more  provinces,  whenever  the  finan- 
cial conditions  warrant  such  a  division  and  the 
people  concerned  desire  it.  Since  1913,  two 
new  regular  provinces  have  been  added ;  namely, 
Abra,  formerly  a  sub-province  of  Ilocos  Sur,  and 
Komblon,  formerly  a  sub-province  of  Capiz. 
The  Legislature  also  recently  authorized  the 
Governor-General  to  separate  Camarines  Norte 
from  Ambos  Camarines  and  organize  it  as  an 
independent  province. 

Similarly  there  has  been  a  tendency  to  in- 
crease the  number  of  municipalities.  In  1913 
there  were  745  municipalities,  whereas  this  year 
(1919)  there  are  792.  This  number  does  not  in- 
clude the  several  municipalities  created  in  the 
provinces  within  the  Department  of  Mindanao 
and  Sulu.  Municipalities  are  governed  by  a 
municipal  president,  vice-president,  treasurer, 
secretary  and  councilors.  All  of  these  are 
elected  except  the  secretary  and  treasurer. 
There  are  also  municipal  boards  of  health  or 
municipal  sanitary  divisions.  The  cities  of 
Manila  and  Baguio  have  special  charters. 

Although,  as  a  general  rule,  the  organization 
of  new  provinces  and  municipalities  is  favored, 
yet  it  has  been  the  policy  not  to  authorize  such 


94       SELF-GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

organization  unless  the  social  and  economic  con- 
ditions of  the  places  concerned  fully  warrant 
such  action.  The  creation  of  so  many  provinces 
and  municipalities,  therefore,  is  indicative  of 
the  progress  being  made  along  social  and  eco- 
nomic lines  in  our  provinces  and  municipalities. 
Formerly,  regular  provinces  and  municipali- 
ties were  governed  by  Acts  Nos.  82  and  83  of  the 
Philippine  Commission,  and  numerous  other  acts 
amendatory  thereto.  All  these  acts  were  har- 
monized, consolidated  and  embodied  in  an  Ad- 
ministrative Code,  which,  as  recently  revised,  is 
known  as  the  Administrative  Code  of  1917.  An- 
other step  to  make  provincial  and  municipal 
legislation  more  systematic  and  uniform  has  re- 
cently been  taken.  Formerly,  in  addition  to  the 
provincial  and  municipal  laws  applicable  to  the 
regular  provinces  and  municipalities,  there  were 
provincial  and  municipal  laws  applicable  to  the 
provinces  and  minor  political  subdivisions  in  the 
Department  of  Mindanao  and  Sulu  and  laws 
applicable  to  the  other  special  provinces  and 
political  subdivision  therein.  These  latter  laws 
are  obsolete  and  no  longer  warranted  by  the 
progress  made  in  those  special  provinces  since 
their  enactment.  For  this  reason,  and  for  the 
sake  of  uniformity,  these  laws  have  been  repealed 


PROGRESS  OF  LOCAL  GOVERNMENT    95 

recently  and  substituted,  with  slight  modifica- 
tions, by  those  in  force  in  the  Department  of 
Mindanao  and  Sulu  which  have  proved  to  be 
highly  progressive,  and  have  contributed  largely 
to  the  rapid  political,  social  and  economic  ad- 
vancement in  that  region. 

There  are  other  important  acts  passed  by  the 
Philippine  Legislature  affecting  provinces  and 
municipalities.  The  trend  of  legislation  as 
shown  by  these  acts  is  quite  significant.  There 
is  a  decided  policy  of  extending  more  and  more 
popular  control  over  local  governments.  To 
this  end  formerly  appointive  provincial  offices 
have  been  converted  into  elective.  The  pro- 
vincial board  that  forms  the  legislative  body  in 
the  province  was  formerly  constituted  by  the 
provincial  governor  (elective),  the  provincial 
treasurer  (appointive)  and  the  third  member 
(elective).  By  Act  No.  2501,  passed  on  Feb- 
ruary 5,  1915,  the  provincial  treasurer  ceased  to 
act  as  member  of  the  provincial  board  and  the 
Governor-General  was  authorized  to  appoint  a 
new  member  to  be  chosen  from  among  the 
municipal  presidents  whose  term  of  office  was 
made  coincident  with  the  term  of  the  two  elective 
members  of  the  board.  Inasmuch  as  municipal 
presidents  are  elected  by  popular  vote,  the  effect 


96       SELF-GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

of  Act  2501  in  requiring  that  the  appointive 
member  of  the  provincial  board  be  chosen  from 
among  the  municipal  presidents  of  the  province, 
was  undoubtedly  to  extend  popular  control  in 
the  administration  of  provincial  affairs  in  the 
regularly  organized  provinces.  Act  2586  en- 
acted in  February,  1916,  further  extended  popu- 
lar control  in  the  administration,  by  providing 
that  the  appointive  members  of  the  provincial 
board  shall  be  elected  by  popular  vote.  In  1914, 
the  office  of  Lieutenant-Governor  in  the  sub- 
provinces  of  Marinduque,  Tayabas;  Catandu- 
anes,  Albay;  Masbate,  Sorsogon;  Siquijor,  Occi- 
dental Negros;  Abra,  Ilocos  Sur  (subsequently 
made  a  province)  was  made  elective. 

Popular  control  was  also  extended  in  the 
special  provinces.  In  1915,  the  office  of  third 
member  of  the  provincial  boards  of  Mindoro, 
Palawan  and  Batanes  was  made  elective.  In 
1916,  the  third  member  of  the  provincial  board 
of  Nueva  Vizcaya  was  also  made  elective.  So 
was  the  office  of  third  member  of  the  Mountain 
Province  made  elective  in  1917.  In  1916,  the 
office  of  provincial  governor  of  Mindoro  was  like- 
wise made  elective.  The  provinces  in  the  De- 
partment of  Mindanao  and  Sulu  were  not  en- 
tirely left  out.  The  office  of  third  member  in 


PROGRESS  OF  LOCAL  GOVERNMENT    97 

each  of  them  was  made  elective  also,  although 
not  by  popular  vote,  but  by  the  vote  of  the 
municipal  vice-presidents  and  councilors.  But 
as  these  officials  are  elected  by  popular  vote,  it 
will  readily  be  seen  that  the  change  is  quite  a 
significant  one. 

All  these  changes  form  tangible  evidence  of 
the  progress  achieved  towards  the  extension  of 
popular  control.  As  the  important  municipal 
offices  are  also  elective,  almost  the  entire  work 
of  the  provincial  and  municipal  governments, 
therefore,  is  being  conducted  by  the  Filipino  of- 
ficials elected  by  popular  vote. 

The  six  years  of  Philippine  autonomy  are  also 
characterized  by  the  enactment  of  laws  provid- 
ing for  the  promotion  of  friendly  relations  and 
union  between  the  Christian  and  non-Christian 
inhabitants  of  the  Philippine  Islands  and  the 
extension  to  the  Department  of  Mindanao  and 
Sulu  and  other  special  provinces  of  laws  of  gen- 
eral application  in  the  regularly  organized 
provinces.  (See  Acts  2396,  2406,  2413,  2417, 
2522,  2539,  2545,  2658,  2662  and  2664.  Also  see 
Chapter  VII.) 

In  1917  and  1918,  all  provincial  governors 
who  are  the  chief  executives  of  the  provinces  were 
Filipinos  except  the  governors  of  the  provinces 


98       SELF-GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

of  Cotabato,  Lanao  and  Sulu  in  the  Department 
of  Mindanao  and  Sulu.  Of  the  46  provincial 
treasurers  who  are  the  chief  financial  officers  of 
the  provinces,  39  are  Filipinos  and  7  are  Amer- 
icans. In  other  offices  which  may  be  termed 
quasi-provincial  offices,  the  Filipinos  have  also 
gradually  assumed  control.  Of  the  39  district 
health  officers,  38  are  Filipinos  and  only  one  is 
American.  In  the  municipalities,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  16  American  ex-officio  justices  of  the 
peace  who,  of  course,  have  no  administrative 
functions,  all  officials  are  Filipinos.  As  may  be 
seen,  the  last  five  years  of  democratic  adminis- 
tration have  witnessed  the  gradual  and  steady 
assumption  by  the  Filipinos  of  the  entire  provin- 
cial and  municipal  administration. 

The  supervision  and  control  over  provinces 
and  municipalities  wrere  formerly  exercised  by 
the  Governor-General,  through  the  Executive 
Secretary.  Now,  this  power  is  entrusted  to  the 
Secretary  of  the  Interior,  through  the  Chief  of 
the  Executive  Bureau,  both  of  which  offices  are 
filled  by  Filipinos.  The  provincial  and  munici- 
pal governments,  to  an  increasing  degree,  are 
being  encouraged  to  a  more  ample  exercise  of 
self-government  and  accustomed  to  less  active 
supervision  by  the  Central  Government,  the  lat- 


99 

ter  intervening  only  when  the  law  so  requires, 
or  whenever  the  officials  abuse  their  powers  or 
grossly  neglect  their  duties  to  the  detriment  of 
the  public  interests.  Unnecessary  intervention 
in  provincial  and  municipal  affairs  has  been  dis- 
continued and  the  autonomy  of  the  provinces 
and  municipalities  respected  in  so  far  as  con- 
sistent with  the  safety  of  the  government  and  the 
general  welfare.  The  provinces  and  municipali- 
ties are  not  subjected  to  intervention  by  the  Cen- 
tral Government  as  long  as  they  confine  them- 
selves within  the  limits  of  their  legal  powers. 
Thus,  the  Executive  Bureau  no  longer  revises 
on  its  own  initiative,  acts,  resolutions,  etc.,  of 
the  municipal  governments,  but  takes  cogniz- 
ance of  questions  involving  such  acts  and  reso- 
lutions only  when  appeal  thereto  is  taken  pur- 
suant to  the  provisions  of  section  2235  of  the 
Administrative  Code  of  1917,  in  which  case  only 
the  point  of  legality  or  illegality  of  the  act  or 
ordinance  concerned  is  decided,  or  when  protest 
is  filed  by  a  person  or  persons  affected  by  or  in- 
terested in  such  acts  or  resolutions,  in  which 
case  this  office  passes  upon  the  protest  and  if  it 
finds  the  same  to  be  well-founded  makes  the 
necessary  and  proper  suggestions  to  the  provin- 
cial board  which  invariably  follows  them  and 


100       SELF-GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

takes  action  accordingly.  Nor  does  it  pass  upon 
charges  against  municipal  officials  except  those 
which,  upon  investigation,  are  submitted  to  it 
by  the  provincial  board  under  the  provisions  of 
sections  2188  et  seq.  of  the  Administrative  Code 
of  1917. 

The  policy  of  extending  local  autonomy  has 
been  productive  of  beneficial  results.  Provincial 
and  municipal  officials  have  risen  to  the  occasion. 
The  number  of  administrative  cases  against 
municipal  officials  has  gradually  and  consider- 
ably decreased.  Thus,  in  1914,  there  were  80 
administrative  cases  against  municipal  presi- 
dents, 27  against  vice-presidents  and  165  against 
municipal  councilors;  in  1915,  50  against  muni- 
cipal presidents,  21  against  vice-presidents  and 
86  against  municipal  councilors;  in  1916,  39 
against  municipal  presidents,  14  against  vice- 
presidents  and  27  against  municipal  councilors; 
and  in  1917,  18  against  municipal  presidents,  2 
against  vice-presidents  and  48  against  municipal 
councilors.  According  to  official  records,  there 
were  not  more  than  70  administrative  cases 
against  municipal  officials  received  in  the  Ex- 
ecutive Bureau  for  instruction  or  final  action 
during  the  year  1918.  More  noteworthy  is  the 
fact  that  from  1914  to  date,  no  provincial  official 


PROGRESS  OF  LOCAL  GOVERNMENT    101 

has  been  subjected  to  administrative  proceed- 
ings. This  shows  a  decisive  improvement  in  our 
municipal  administration,  a  better  realization 
on  the  part  of  our  municipal  officials  of  the  re- 
sponsibilities contracted  by  them  with  their  con- 
stitutents  —  the  people  whose  sovereign  will  has 
exalted  them  to  position  and  power. 

Nor  has  progress  been  along  political  lines 
alone,  but  provinces  and  municipalities  also  have 
improved  economically.  The  revenues  of  prov- 
inces and  municipalities  have  constantly  in- 
creased from  year  to  year  during  the  last  five 
years.  In  the  case  of  the  province  of  Cebu,  for 
example,  it  appears  that  in  1913,  the  revenues 
of  all  the  municipalities  therein  totalled  554,- 
321.49  pesos;  in  1914,  580,466.57  pesos;  in  1915, 
660,834.03  pesos;  in  1916,  710,882.73  pesos;  and 
in  1917,  831,606.37  pesos.  In  1913,  the  revenues 
of  all  the  municipalities,  townships  and  settle- 
ments amounted  to  7,152,541.90  pesos.  In  1917, 
this  amount  reached  the  sum  of  11,401,983.94 
pesos.  In  1913,  the  total  expenses  of  operation 
of  all  municipalities,  townships  and  settlements 
aggregated  5,869,454.87  pesos.  In  1917,  the 
amount  totalled  8,696,535.51  pesos. 

The  chief  sources  of  revenue  of  the  provinces 
are  the  cedula  (poll)  tax,  the  percentage  of  In- 


102        SELF-GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

ternal  Revenue  taxes  accruing  to  them  and  the 
real-property  tax;  of  the  municipalities,  the 
cedula  tax,  Internal  Revenue  licenses  and  per- 
centage, real-property  tax,  municipal  licenses, 
fisheries,  cattle  registration  and  rents,  profits 
and  privileges.  The  financial  condition  of  the 
provinces  and  municipalities  is  satisfactory. 
Their  financial  resources  have  permitted  them  to 
undertake  necessary  public  works,  such  as  the 
construction  and  repair  of  school-houses,  muni- 
cipal government  buildings,  roads,  and  bridges, 
etc.  And,  in  cases  where  their  financial  re- 
sources have  not  been  sufficient  to  permit  them 
to  carry  out  public  improvements,  the  provinces 
and  municipalities  readily  have  contracted  loans 
which  they  always  have  endeavored  to  pay  at 
the  earliest  possible  date.  They  have  practiced 
strict  economy  to  be  able  to  meet  such  obliga- 
tions. In  countless  instances,  the  people  have 
shown  commendable  public  spirit  by  voluntarily 
contributing  money,  material  and  labor  for  these 
purposes.  The  policy  is  to  permit  provinces  and 
municipalities  to  increase  local  taxes,  the  pro- 
ceeds whereof  are  to  be  devoted  to  such  public 
works  as  may  be  undertaken  by  their  govern- 
ments. 

Not  only  have  the  provinces  and  municipali- 


PROGRESS  OF  LOCAL  GOVERNMENT    103 

ties  improved  politically  and  economically,  but, 
as  a  result  of  their  local  freedom  and  prosperity, 
they  have  encouraged  and  effectively  contributed 
to  the  establishment  of  public  schools,  the  or- 
ganization of  a  system  of  provincial  and  muni- 
cipal sanitation,  and  the  execution  of  public 
works;  such  as  roads,  bridges,  provincial  and 
municipal  buildings,  markets  and  slaughter- 
houses, artesian  wells,  wharves,  docks  and  piers, 
parks  and  monuments. 

It  is,  indeed,  gratifying  to  note  the  constant 
increase  of  schools  in  the  provinces  and  munici- 
palities to  meet  the  crying  demands  of  the  Fili- 
pinos for  popular  education.  The  Philippine 
public  school  system  is  one  of  the  largest  under 
the  American  flag,  and  it  is  growing.  Be- 
tween 1912  and  1918  the  total  number  of  chil- 
dren in  school  increased  from  440,000  to  675,000, 
a  gain  of  fifty-four  per  cent  in  six  years.  The 
larger  number  of  pupils  attended  4,700  schools, 
the  smaller  3,000,  which  means  that  in  1918, 
1,700  more  communities  enjoyed  educational 
privileges  than  in  1912.  During  the  same  period 
the  number  of  intermediate  pupils  grew  to  67,- 
000,  a  gain  of  one  hundred  sixty  per  cent;  and 
the  number  of  high  school  students  reached  16,- 
000,  a  gain  of  two  hundred  twenty  per  cent. 


104        SELF-GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

And  the  Philippines  have  had  no  compulsory  at- 
tendance law. 

The  liberality  with  which  the  Philippine  Leg- 
islature has  appropriated  money  for  the  pro- 
motion of  public  education  as  evidenced  by  the 
Appropriation  Acts,  and  the  prompt  response 
of  provinces  and  municipalities  in  appropriat- 
ing funds  for  the  same  purpose,  have  permitted 
this  increase  from  year  to  year  of  schools  in 
the  provinces  and  municipalities.  Let  it  be 
said  that  at  the  present  day  the  cry  for  more 
sehools  is  resounding  in  every  nook  and  corner 
of  the  Archipelago.  This  has  been  echoed  in  the 
halls  of  the  Philippine  Congress  which  promptly 
and  unhesitatingly  responded  by  appropriating 
the  large  sum  of  30,000,000  pesos  to  defray  the 
expenses  of  a  five-year  school  program  calcu- 
lated to  accommodate  in  the  schools  all  Filipino 
children  who  may  desire  to  attend  them.  And, 
in  addition,  the  voluntary  contributions  of  the 
people  to  the  support  of  education  increased 
from  P198,000  to  P479,000  from  1912  to  1917. 
No  clearer  evidence  is  needed  that  the  Filipino 
people  are  back  of  the  public  schools. 

This  impelling  movement  for  popular  educa- 
tion, this  yearning  of  an  entire  people  for  intel- 
lectual advancement  is  evidence  of  already 


IFUGAO  IGORROT  RICE  TERRACES 

Among  the  most  remarkable  of  their  kind  in  the  world.  It  is  estimated  there  are 
12,121  miles  of  8-feet  stone  walls  in  the  Ifugao  terraces,  which  is  approximately  half 
the  distance  around  the  world.  These  terraces  are  skillfully  irrigated  by  water  brought 
in  troughs  or  in  ditches  along  the  precipitous  mountain  sides  over  long  distances 


PROGRESS  OF  LOCAL  GOVERNMENT    105 

awakened  national  consciousness  to  secure  for 
themselves  and  their  posterity  the  means  of  their 
happiness  and  prosperity.  The  growth  of  the 
public  school  system  in  size  and  in  efficiency 
has  been  accompanied  by  the  placing  of  more 
responsibility  upon  the  shoulders  of  Filipinos. 
Several  years  ago  Filipino  teachers  began  to 
give  all  primary  instruction  and  they  now  do 
ninety-eight  per  cent  of  the  teaching  of  inter- 
mediate grades  and  forty-four  per  cent  of  that 
of  secondary  grades.  Administrative  and  su- 
pervisory positions  have  also  been  opened  to 
them.  Eighty-six  per  cent  of  the  350  supervis- 
ing teachers  are  Filipinos  and  they  hold  the  ma- 
jority of  the  positions  of  academic  and  indus- 
trial supervisors.  Five  Filipinos  are  division 
superintendents  and  one  is  the  Second  Assistant 
Director  of  Education.  Such  an  acceptance  of 
responsibility  within  a  comparatively  few  years 
is  both  an  indication  of  the  interest  of  the  Fili- 
pinos in  education  and  of  their  ability  to  suc- 
ceed in  the  professional  work  of  teaching  and 
supervision. 

By  Act  2156,  as  amended,  provinces  and  muni- 
cipalities have  been  enabled  to  organize  them- 
selves into  sanitary  districts  and  divisions.  At 
present  there  are  32  provinces  organized  into 


106       SELF-GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

sanitary  districts  with  a  total  of  252  sanitary 
divisions,  and  two  provinces  (Ambos  Camarines 
and  Komblon)  in  each  municipality  of  which  a 
municipal  board  of  health  is  organized.  There 
are  220  doctors  employed  as  municipal  health 
officers,  26  nurses  and  815  sanitary  inspectors. 
This  organization  has  been  productive  of  great 
beneficial  results  to  provinces  and  municipalities 
and  their  inhabitants.  Thereby,  the  people  have 
come  in  closer  contact  with  the  health  officials, 
and  with  the  cooperation  of  the  provincial  and 
municipal  officials  and  the  people  in  general,  epi- 
demic outbreaks  have  oftentimes  been  avoided 
or  easily  brought  under  control. 

Magnificent  first-class  roads  connect  many 
provinces  and  municipalities,  and  the  difficulty 
of  communication  of  former  years  is  now  hardly 
felt.  With  approximately  15,000  kilometers  of 
good  roads,  bridges  and  ferries,  built  and  con- 
structed during  the  last  five  years  at  a  cost  of 
19,724,959.60  pesos,  travelers  and  tourists  may 
now  travel  in  safety  from  one  province  to  an- 
other and  admire  the  beautiful  scenery  across 
mountains,  plains  and  verdant  fields. 

Numerous  provincial  and  municipal  buildings 
have  been  built,  the  total  amount  spent  for  the 
construction  of  the  former  being  1,675,274.38 


PROGRESS  OF  LOCAL  GOVERNMENT    107 

pesos,  and  of  the  latter  5,859,013,62  pesos.  Nu- 
merous modern  sanitary  markets  and  slaughter- 
houses have  likewise  been  constructed,  the  total 
expenditure  therefor  being  3,291,315.66  pesos. 
The  total  number  of  artesian  wells  built  to  the 
present  time  is  893,  at  a  cost  of  approximately 
3,000,000.00  pesos.  These  have  solved  many  of 
the  vexing  health  problems  that  formerly  ex- 
isted, and  have  contributed  largely  to  the  pre- 
vention of  a  high  rate  of  mortality. 

It  will  be  seen  from  the  foregoing  brief  state- 
ments that  during  the  last  five  years,  provinces 
and  municipalities  have  increased;  that  the 
Philippine  Legislature  has  passed  laws  cal- 
culated to  make  provincial  and  municipal  gov- 
ernments more  popular  and  autonomous;  that 
the  Filipinos  have  gradually  assumed  control 
over  provincial  and  municipal  administration; 
that  the  provincial  and  municipal  officials  have 
shown  improvement,  capacity  and  integrity  in 
the  administration  of  provincial  and  municipal 
affairs;  that  the  provinces  and  municipalities 
have  improved  financially,  and  that  they  have 
willingly  and  effectively  met  the  aspirations  and 
needs  of  their  inhabitants. 

It  is  vain  to  theorize  on  the  success  attained 
by  the  Filipinos  in  provincial  and  municipal  ad- 


108       SELF-GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

ministration  during  the  last  five  years.  Suffice 
it  to  say  that  they  have  made  the  largest,  ablest 
and  wisest  use  of  the  functions  entrusted  to  them. 
They  have  demonstrated  that  they  are  wholly 
capable  of  playing  their  part  in  the  conduct  of 
their  affairs  with  skill,  dignity,  firmness,  and 
above  all,  with  unswerving  loyalty  to  the  ideals 
of  their  country. 

If  the  progress  achieved  by  the  Philippine 
Islands  during  the  last  five  years  is  to  be  deter- 
mined by  the  progress  made  by  provinces  and 
municipalities  during  that  period,  the  Philippine 
Islands  have  indeed  advanced  wonderfully.  She 
has  had  an  accomplishment  which  any  nation  can 
be  proud  of.  Her  people  have  seen  schools  mul- 
tiply in  remote  barrios,  and  knowledge  of  hygiene 
and  sanitation  penetrate  into  the  most  remote 
communities.  They  have  seen  the  roads  thread 
their  way  through  every  province,  transforming 
poverty-stricken  regions  into  rich  and  flourish- 
ing communities.  All  these  have  brought  to  the 
Filipino  people  a  sense  of  unity  and  have  turned 
out  a  well-educated  citizenry  worthy  of  their 
race.  The  Filipino  people  have  witnessed  the 
transfer  of  government  into  their  hands  and  have 
handled  it  in  a  manner  creditable  to  themselves 
and  their  country. 


CHAPTER  VII 

OUR  TREATMENT  OF  THE  NON-CHRISTIAN  TRIBES 

ONE  of  the  strongest  objections  to  the  in- 
dependence of  the  Philippines  has  been 
the  so-called  non-Christian  problem.  Accord- 
ing to  the  census  estimate  of  1918,  out  of  the 
population  of  10,500,000  Filipinos,  there  are 
500,000  inhabitants  who  belong  to  the  so-called 
non-Christian  tribes.  The  most  numerous  of 
these  non-Christian  people  are  the  Moros,  who 
inhabit  the  Sulu  Archipelago  and  certain  parts 
of  Mindanao.  The  Mountain  Province  and 
Nueva  Vizcaya,  in  Luzon,  contain  also  non- 
Christian  people.  It  was  predicted  that  with 
the  establishment  of  Philippine  autonomy  the 
Moros  would  revive  their  piratical  life  and  war 
on  their  Christian  brothers  and  that  the  other 
districts  would  be  subject  to  disorders  and  revo- 
lutions. Nothing  of  the  sort  has  developed. 

Unlike  the  backward  peoples  in  other  parts  of 
the  globe,  the  non-Christian  peoples  of  the 
Philippines  have  always  received  humanitarian 

109 


110       SELF-GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

treatment  from  the  American  Government  as 
well  as  from  their  Christian  brothers.  From 
1913  to  1916  the  non-Christian  peoples  were  un- 
der the  exclusive  control  and  jurisdiction  of  the 
Philippine  Commission  composed  of  a  majority 
of  Filipinos.  Since  the  passage  of  the  Jones 
Law  in  1916,  the  Philippine  Legislature,  com- 
posed entirely  of  Filipinos,  assumed  legislative 
control  of  the  non-Christian  tribes.  Since  1913, 
therefore,  the  representatives  of  the  Christian 
Filipinos  have  dictated  the  policy  pursued  to- 
ward their  non-Christian  brothers,  and  a  review 
of  what  has  been  done  since  that  time  would  give 
us  an  insight  as  to  our  treatment  of  the  problem. 

The  Philippine  Commission  and  the  Philip- 
pine Legislature  have  expressed  unequivocally 
by  appropriate  legislation  their  policy  towards 
the  non-Christian  peoples.  Such  a  policy  has 
for  its  fundamental  objective  the  establishment 
and  promotion  of  friendly  relations  with  the  non- 
Christian  people  of  the  Philippine  Islands  and 
the  promotion  of  their  agricultural,  industrial 
and  economic  development  and  their  advance- 
ment in  civilization.  (See,  among  others,  Acts 
Nos.  2208,  2404  and  2444.) 

Upon  the  establishment  of  the  Bureau  of  non- 
Christian  tribes  by  section  22  of  the  Jones  Law, 


THE  NON-CHRISTIAN  TRIBES  111 

the  Philippine  Legislature  on  February  20,  1917, 
enacted  Act  No.  2674  providing  for  the  opera- 
tion of  said  bureau.  That  law  defines  in  a  clear 
and  unequivocal  term  the  policy  of  the  Govern- 
ment towards  the  non-Christian  people  as  fol- 
lows: 


"  .  .  .  to  foster  by  all  adequate  means  and  in  a 
tematic,  rapid  and  complete  manner  the  moral,  ma- 
terial, economic,  social  and  political  development  of 
the  regions  inhabited  by  non-Christian  Filipinos,  al- 
ways having  in  view  the  aim  of  rendering  permanent 
the  mutual  intelligence  between  and  complete  fusion 
of  all  the  Christian  and  non-Christian  elements  popu- 
lating the  provinces  of  the  Archipelago." 

The  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  who  is  the  of- 
ficial charged  with  the  supervision  and  control 
of  all  the  non-Christian  people,  has,  consist- 
ently with  law,  adopted  the  following  program 
of  administration  with  regard  to  those  people  : 

The  advancement  of  the  non-Christian  elements  of 
our  population  to  equality  and  unification  with  the 
highly  civilized  Christian  inhabitants.  This  is  carried 
on  by  the  adoption  of  the  following  measures  : 

(a)  Pursuance  of  the  closer  settlement  policy 
whereby  people  of  semi-nomadic  race  are  induced  to 
leave  their  wild  habitat  and  settle  in  organized  com- 
munities. 


112        SELF-GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

(b)  The  extension  of  the  public  school  system  and 
the  system  of  public  health  throughout  the  regions  in- 
habited by  the  non-Christian  people. 

(c)  The  extension  of  public  works  throughout  the 
Mohammedan  regions  to  facilitate  their  development 
and  the  extension  of  government  control. 

(d)  Construction  of  roads  and  trails  between  one 
place  and  another  among  non-Christians  to  promote 
social  and  commercial  intercourse  and  maintain  ami- 
cable relations  among  them  and  with  the  Christian  peo- 
ple. 

(e)  Pursuance  of  the  development  of  natural  eco- 
nomic resources,  especially  agriculture. 

(f)  The  encouragement  of  immigration  into,  and 
of  the  investment  of  private  capital  in,  the  fertile  re- 
gions of  Mindanao  and  Sulu. 

The  foregoing  program  is  for  all  non-Chris- 
tians in  every  part  of  the  Philippines.  In  1914 
the  United  States  military  forces  ceased  to  con- 
trol the  parts  of  Mindanao  and  Sulu  inhabited 
by  the  non-Christians,  and  these  were  then 
created  into  the  Department  of  Mindanao  and 
Sulu  under  a  civil  governor.  Philippine  con- 
stabulary soldiers  composed  mostly  of  Filipinos 
were  sent  down  to  keep  order.  But  soldiers  are 
not  the  main  factors  of  the  policy  of  the  civil 
government.  With  them  went  Filipino  teachers, 
doctors,  and  nurses  to  preach,  in  words  as  well 
as  in  deeds,  the  gospel  of  brotherhood  and  civil- 


THE  NON-CHRISTIAN  TRIBES  113 

ization.  The  non-Christian  peoples  are  now 
being  taught  and  guided  to  improve  their  living 
conditions  in  order  that  they  may  fully  ap- 
preciate the  benefits  of  civilization.  Those  of 
them  who  are  still  given  to  nomadic  habits  are 
being  persuaded  to  abandon  their  wild  habitats 
and  settle  in  organized  settlements.  They  are 
being  made  to  understand  that  it  is  the  purpose 
of  the  government  to  organize  them  politically 
into  fixed  and  permanent  communities,  aid  them 
to  live  and  work,  protect  them  from  involuntary 
servitude  and  abuse,  educate  their  children,  and 
show  them  the  advantages  of  leading  a  civilized 
life  on  a  par  with  their  civilized  brothers. 

To  assure  the  success  of  the  work,  the  organ- 
ization and  extension  of  public  schools  through- 
out the  non-Christian  territory  has  been  given 
special  emphasis.  Among  the  Moros  of  Min- 
danao and  Sulu,  as  in  other  parts  of  the  Islands, 
the  first  instruction  in  the  English  language  was 
given  by  American  soldiers  detailed  as  teachers. 
The  army  foresaw  the  advantages  of  public 
schools  from  a  military  viewpoint.  As  early  as 
1903  primary  schools  were  organized  in  a  few 
of  the  principal  villages  where  Arabic  and  Eng- 
lish were  taught.  However,  in  view  of  the  new- 
ness of  the  ideas  and  the  distrust  of  the  Moros 


114       SELF-GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

and  other  non-Christians,  very  little  progress 
was  made  in  establishing  and  maintaining  pub- 
lic schools.  At  the  end  of  the  school  year  1903- 
1904,  they  had  an  attendance  of  only  1,582 
pupils,  and  by  1913,  at  the  end  of  the  military 
rule  in  Mindanao  and  Sulu,  there  was  an  at- 
tendance of  only  4,535.  The  last  five  years,  in 
which  the  Filipinos  controlled  the  legislative 
policy  towards  the  Moros,  the  educational  prog- 
ress has  been  tremendous.  The  following  figures 
show  the  average  daily  attendance  and  the  ex- 
penditures for  public  education  for  the  Moro 
provinces  from  1912  to  the  present  time : 

Fiscal  year  Expenditures 

Attendance 

1912  3,807    P  93,987.00 

1913  4,535     137,069.00 

1918  16,114  650,000.00  (Estimate)1 

Act  2531  passed  by  the  Philippine  Legislature 
under  date  of  October  26,  1915,  gave  great  im- 
petus to  educational  work  in  the  non-Christian 
provinces.  This  act  appropriated  the  sum  of 
Pl,000,000  for  expenses  of  the  Bureau  of  Ed- 
ucation necessary  for  the  construction,  establish- 
ment, organization,  and  operation  of  additional 

1 1  am  indebted  for  this  school  data  to  Dr.  W.  W.  Mar- 
quardt,  Director  of  the  Bureau  of  Education. 


THE  NON-CHRISTIAN  TRIBES  115 

free  insular  primary  schools  in  the  territory  in- 
habited by  Mohammedans  or  other  non-Chris- 
tian Filipinos,  and  to  make  the  necessary  pro- 
visions for  normal  training  of  teachers  for  said 
primary  schools.  This  fund  was  allotted  in 
proportion  to  the  school  population,  and  was 
used  for  the  purchase  of  sites,  construction  of 
buildings,  purchase  of  equipment,  and  for  cur- 
rent expenses,  such  as  salaries  and  supplies. 
This  million  pesos  was  a  direct  contribution  of 
the  Christian  population  to  their  non-Christian 
brothers;  for  our  non-Christian  population  is 
far  from  being  self-supporting,  and  millions  of 
pesos  have  to  be  taken  every  year  from  the 
pockets  of  the  Christian  people  for  the  uplift  of 
their  backward  brothers.  This  fact  must  not 
be  lost  sight  of  in  the  discussion  of  the  non- 
Christian  problem. 

Special  effort  has  been  made  to  so  frame  the 
courses  of  study  that  they  may  meet  the  peculiar 
needs  of  each  of  the  non-Christian  people.  Set- 
tlement farm  schools  have  been  established  to 
meet  the  particular  needs  of  more  or  less  nomadic 
tribes.  Boarding  schools  are  established  wher- 
ever economic  conditions  demand  it.  It  has 
been  found  that  the  only  practical  way  to  reach 
the  non-Christian  girls  is  through  dormitory 


116       SELF-GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

schools.  Loom-weaving  is  being  taught  to  girls 
in  a  few  schools.  The  industrial  work  pre- 
scribed for  these  people,  however,  has  been 
limited  very  largely  to  agriculture  for  boys  and 
plain  sewing  for  girls. 

The  number  of  teachers  in  the  Mountain 
Province  in  1912  was  93.  The  number  of  teach- 
ers assigned  to  this  work  at  the  present  time 
(1918)  is  251.  The  number  of  teachers  in  Nueva 
Vizcaya  in  1912  was  64.  At  the  present  time 
there  are  87  teachers  on  duty  there.  The  num- 
ber of  teachers  in  the  Department  of  Mindanao 
and  Sulu  in  1912  was  99.  At  present  there  are 
783  teachers  assigned  to  this  department.  A 
great  many  of  these  teachers  have  come  from  the 
Central  Luzon  Agricultural  School,  but  almost 
every  province  in  the  Philippine  Islands  is  rep- 
resented. The  willingness  of  these  teachers  to 
leave  their  homes  and  take  up  work  in  the  non- 
Christian  provinces  is  a  significant  development 
in  education  and  in  the  problem  of  final  unifica- 
tion and  nationalization  of  the  people  of  the 
Philippines.  During  the  past  year  the  attend- 
ance in  the  non-Christian  provinces  has  almost 
doubled.  The  schools  in  the  northern  part  of 
Luzon  and  also  in  Mindanao  are  fitting  boys  for 
farm  work  by  giving  them  a  fundamental  knowl- 


THE  NON-CHRISTIAN  TRIBES  117 

edge  of  agriculture  and  by  teaching  them  how 
to  work.  Girls  are  taught  plain  sewing  so  that 
they  may  provide  their  own  clothes,  and  weaving 
and  other  minor  industries  so  that  they  may  earn 
a  livelihood. 

Side  by  side  with  the  extension  of  the  public 
schools  has  gone  the  extension  of  the  public 
health  service.  In  1914  the  health  and  school  au- 
thorities of  the  Department  of  Mindanao  and 
Sulu  undertook  the  establishment  of  combination 
schools  and  dispensaries.  These  institutions, 
seventeen  of  which  have  already  been  established, 
are  in  charge  of  the  School  of  Nursing  of  the 
University  of  the  Philippines.  The  salaries  of 
the  teachers  in  these  combined  institutions  are 
paid  in  equal  parts  from  health  and  school  funds. 
These  institutions  are  for  the  most  part  located 
in  remote  communities  and  make  a  strong  ap- 
peal to  the  non-Christian  people.  Approxi- 
mately 30,000  children  are  treated  each  year  in 
these  dispensaries.  In  addition  to  the  school 
dispensaries  mentioned  above,  there  are  nine 
special  dispensaries  maintained  wholly  by  the 
school  department.  The  teachers  in  charge  of 
these  dispensaries  receive  a  course  of  instruction 
in  dispensary  work  at  the  normal  institutes.  In 
order  to  train  teachers  for  this  work,  a  graduate 


118       SELF-GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

nurse  has  been  assigned  to  the  Zamboanga  Nor- 
mal School  where  she  is  conducting  a  course  for 
students  who  are  preparing  themselves  to  become 
teachers.  In  this  connection  it  must  be  said 
that  kind  treatment  and  modern  medicine  have 
proven  greater  civilizing  factors  than  bayonets 
and  Krags.  The  most  prominent  citizen  of  the 
Moro  people,  Senator  Hadji  Butu,  tells  how  a 
physician,  Dr.  Sixto  Orosa,  has  won  the  affection 
of  his  people.  He  says,  "  All  the  Moros  like 
him;  many  come  from  the  mountains  to  ask 
medicine  from  him.  Before  he  came  they  were 
afraid  to  drink  hospital  medicine  and  to  stay 
in  the  hospital.  But  now  they  have  proved  that 
Dr.  Orosa's  medicines  cure  quickly  and  his  op- 
erations are  not  painful  and  the  wounds  heal 
in  a  short  time,  so  they  have  full  confidence  in 
him.  All  the  Datos  and  Chiefs  of  Sulu  want 
Dr.  Orosa  to  stay  in  Jolo  all  the  time,  as  they 
regard  him  with  positive  affection." 

Of  no  less  importance  than  the  public  health 
work  is  the  extension  of  public  works  through- 
out the  Mohammedan,  pagan  and  other  non- 
Christian  regions  to  facilitate  their  development 
and  the  extension  of  government  control.  This 
was  a  new  policy,  for  during  the  time  that  the 
military  authorities  controlled  Mindanao  and 


THE  NON-CHRISTIAN  TRIBES  119 

Stilu  no  permanent  road  construction  of  any 
kind  was  done,  with  the  exception  of  the  road 
from  Camp  Overton  to  Camp  Keithley  in  Lanao 
and  another  connecting  the  town  of  Zamboanga 
with  the  San  Ramon  penal  colony.  As  soon  as 
the  Christian  Filipinos  gained  control  of  the  leg- 
islature a  vigorous  policy  of  extending  the  public 
works  throughout  the  non-Christian  parts  of  the 
Islands  was  begun.  Special  attention  was  given 
to  the  construction  and  maintenance  of  roads 
and  trails,  the  improvement  of  ports  and  land- 
ing facilities,  the  extension  and  maintenance  of 
telephone  lines  and  a  portable  water  supply,  the 
removal  of  obstacles  to  navigation  of  rivers,  and 
the  construction  and  maintenance  of  public 
buildings,  especially  schools  and  hospitals.  The 
sub-provinces  of  Agusan,  Bukidnon,  Cotabato, 
Davao,  Lanao,  Sulu  and  Zamboanga  of  the  De- 
partment of  Mindanao  and  Sulu,  are  all  receiv- 
ing the  benefits  of  this  public-works  program. 
It  will  be  only  a  question  of  time  when  they  will 
have  just  as  good  roads  as  the  parts  inhabited 
by  the  Christian  Filipinos. 

Then  we  have  activities  in  connection  with 
the  natural  resources  of  the  non-Christian  parts. 
Graduates  of  the  College  of  Agriculture  are 
yearly  being  sent  in  numbers  to  teach  the  Moro 


120        SELF-GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

people  the  modern  methods  of  farming.  A 
policy  of  immigration  has  been  undertaken 
whereby  Christian  citizens  from  the  densely 
populated  parts  of  the  Islands  may,  with  gov- 
ernment help,  immigrate  to  the  virgin  fields  of 
Mindanao  and  Sulu  and  establish  themselves 
side  by  side  with  their  non-Christian  brothers. 
For  the  year  1917  the  Philippine  Legislature 
appropriated  100,000  pesos  "  for  aid  to  such  in- 
habitants of  the  provinces  of  Luzon  and  the 
Vizcayas  as  may  desire  to  settle  in  Mindanao  and 
Sulu,  either  in  order  to  take  advantage  of  the 
public-land  act  by  purchasing  public  land  or  ac- 
quiring the  same  under  the  homestead  provi- 
sions of  said  act,  or  for  the  purpose  of  taking 
employment  as  laborers  on  private  plantations 
or  public  works,  including  propaganda  and 
transportation  expenses."  The  object  of  these 
agricultural  colonies  was  not  only  the  develop- 
ment of  the  vast  fields  that  have  not  yet  been 
touched  by  the  hand  of  man,  but  also  the  amalga- 
mation of  Christian  and  Mohammedan  Filipinos. 
In  laying  out  the  plans  of  these  colonies  the  gov- 
ernment saw  to  it  that  a  Christian  Filipino  had 
a  Moro  for  a  neighbor.  This  arrangement  was 
predicted  by  some  as  dangerous  and  ill-advised, 
but  the  undertaking  is  now  considered  a  success 


a  > 


THE  NON-CHRISTIAN  TRIBES  121 

even  by  those  who  were  at  first  most  pessimistic 
and  adverse  opponents  of  the  plan.  Once  more 
it  was  proven  that  Moros  and  Christian  Fili- 
pinos can  live  harmoniously  together,  for  they 
are  in  truth  citizens  of  one  country  and  members 
of  one  race. 

But  possibly  the  most  difficult  task  of  the 
government  has  been  the  separation  of  Church 
and  State  in  the  Moro  country  and  the  relin- 
quishment  of  civil  authority  by  the  native  chiefs 
in  favor  of  the  agents  of  the  central  government. 
In  no  other  Mohammedan  country  has  this  ever 
been  attempted.  From  time  immemorial  gov- 
ernmental authority  has  been  exercised  by  the 
prelates  and  clergy  of  the  Mohammedan  Church 
in  Sulu,  Cotabato,  Lanao,  a  large  part  of  Zam- 
boanga,  and  in  those  portions  of  the  provinces 
of  Bukidnon  and  Davao  which  are  inhabited  by 
Mohammedans.  Naturally,  every  feature  of  the 
extension  of  government  control  with  its  con- 
sequent tendency  to  reduce  the  authority  and 
perquisites  of  the  Mohammedan  clergy  and  their 
patrons,  the  datus,  is  always  made  the  subject  of 
petition  and  oral  protests,  oftentimes  couched 
in  the  most  vigorous  and  insistent  terms,  by  the 
people  to  the  authorities.  The  separation  of 
Church  and  State,  always  a  complex  and  delicate 


122       SELF-GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

undertaking,  is  a  specially  difficult  matter  re- 
quiring the  exercise  of  the  utmost  patience  and 
tact  by  local  officials  in  our  Mohammedan  ter- 
ritory. The  activities  of  government  control, 
such  as  the  public  land  surveys  and  the  implan- 
tation of  the  system  of  taxation,  which  are  new 
to  our  Mohammedan  territories,  arouse  suspicion 
as  to  their  ulterior  objectives. 

Yet,  despite  these  serious  obstacles  which 
militated  against  the  complete  extension  and 
recognition  of  government  authority,  the  policy 
of  the  central  government  has  been  crowned 
with  tremendous  success.  The  Sultan  of  Sulu 
has  formally  renounced  his  claim  to  sovereignty 
over  his  Mohammedan  subjects  in  favor  of  the 
civil  government.  Peace  and  public  order  have 
been  kept  in  excellent  condition  as  elsewhere  in 
the  Archipelago.  Colonel  Ole  Waloe,  command- 
ing the  constabulary  in  the  Department  of 
Mindanao  and  Sulu,  in  a  brief  memorandum  to 
the  Department  Secretary  dated  November  23, 
1918,  says: 

"  1.  As  late  as  1885,  the  Spanish  Government  par- 
doned Datu  Pedro  Cuevas  and  his  gang  of  escaped  con- 
victs on  condition  that  they  protect  the  town  of  Isa- 
bela,  Basilan,  from  further  attacks  from  the  Joloano 


THE  NON-CHRISTIAN  TRIBES  123 

and  Yakan  Moros,  notwithstanding  the  place  was  at 
that  time  protected  by  an  excellent  fort. 

"2.  In  1904  this  same  Datu  Cuevas  wrote  the  Gov- 
ernor that  he  had  captured  three  pirates  and,  after 
investigating  them,  had  had  them  shot. 

"  3.  During  1908,  no  less  than  six  different  outlaw 
bands  operated  at  various  times  during  the  year  on 
Basilan  in  such  force  and  with  such  daring  that  it  was 
necessary  to  send  four  companies  of  U.  S.  Infantry 
and  two  companies  of  constabulary  to  that  island. 

"4.  For  the  years  1908-1909,  thirty-seven  outlaws 
were  reported  killed,  captured  and  wounded.  For 
1910-1911,  twenty-eight.  For  1912-1913,  forty.  For 
1914,  twenty-three.  For  1915,  one,  and  for  1916-1917, 
none.  This  great  change  from  a  spirit  of  outlawry  and 
piracy,  coming  down  from  the  Spanish  regime,  to 
peace  and  industry,  was  brought  about  almost  entirely 
by  the  sympathetic  attitude  and  friendly  interest  of 
the  Department  Government  toward  the  Moros  and 
pagan  tribes  of  the  province.  Force  without  limit 
had  been  used  for  three  hundred  years,  but  appar- 
ently with  little,  if  any,  permanent  results. 

11 5.  For  the  last  four  years,  the  number  of  grave 
crimes  occurring  in  the  province  of  Zamboanga  have 
been  less  than  those  in  the  Department's  most  ad- 
vanced Christian  province  for  the  same  period. 

"6.  The  Moro  is  no  more  the  blood-thirsty  religious 
fanatic  of  a  few  years  ago,  but  is  aiding  us  to  a  re- 
markable degree  in  maintaining  law  and  order.  In 
fact  our  success  in  dealing  with  Moro  outlaws  has  been 


124       SELF-GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

due  almost  entirely  to  the  loyal  support  and  aid  we 
have  received  from  the  great  majority  of  the  inhabi- 
tants of  the  districts  affected.  The  Moro  is  indus- 
trious and  a  good  farmer  to  the  extent  of  his  agri- 
cultural knowledge.  He  is  beginning  to  see  the  ad- 
vantages of  education,  to  have  respect  for  his  Christian 
brother  and  be  more  tolerant  in  his  religious  views. 
He  is,  however,  proud  of  his  history  and  loyal  to  his 
religion,  but  commerce  and  education  are  rapidly 
widening  his  horizon. 

' '  The  juramentado  is  a  thing  of  the  past,  while  there 
has  been  only  one  amuck  in  the  province  of  Zamboanga 
during  the  last  eighteen  years.  This  misguided  being 
was  probably  suffering  from  an  attack  of  temporary 
insanity,  as  he  imagined  that  his  mother-in-law  had 
administered  poison  in  his  food;  after  brooding  over 
the  matter  a  few  days  he  decided  to  commit  suicide 
in  the  old  Moro  fashion,  namely  by  running  amuck. 

"Contrary  to  the  prediction  of  the  calamity  howl- 
ers, the  Christian  Filipino  officers  of  the  constabulary 
have  succeeded  completely  in  winning  the  respect  and 
confidence  of  the  Moro. 

"7.  The  pagan  tribes  of  the  province,  Subanos  and 
Yakans,  have  never  been  headhunters  nor  made  human 
sacrifices.  On  the  other  hand,  they  have  given  very 
little  trouble,  except  when  led  on  by  outside  malcon- 
tents that  took  refuge  among  them  when  pursued  by 
the  law.  They  are  peaceable,  industrious  farmers  and 
hunters  by  nature,  and,  under  the  present  system  of 
governmental  supervision,  are  rapidly  taking  up  home- 
steads and  settling  in  the  low  lands.  This,  of  course, 


THE  NON-CHRISTIAN  TRIBES  125 

is  not  only  of  great  benefit  to  themselves,  but  simplifies 
the  problem  of  law  and  order  and  creates  a  supply  of 
labor  for  the  future  development  of  the  country. 

"8.  The  practice  of  appointing  constabulary  officers 
deputy  governors  in  Moro  and  pagan  districts  has  not 
only  greatly  facilitated  the  maintenance  of  law  and 
order  in  those  sections,  but  has  aided  us  much  in  our 
efforts  to  get  the  pagan  tribes  out  of  the  hills  and  set- 
tled in  villages  in  the  low  lands.  Furthermore,  con- 
centration of  authority  is  in  line  with  their  notions  of 
government,  and  it  is  believed  more  completely  meets 
their  present  needs." 

The  foregoing  testimony  of  an  American  of- 
ficial is  one  of  the  most  eloquent  proofs  of  the 
success  of  our  policy  towards  the  non-Christian 
tribes. 

The  Jones  Law  also  brought  a  new  era  among 
the  non-Christian  people.  For  the  first  time 
they  were  given  representation  in  the  National 
Legislature.  Seven  out  of  the  ninety  members 
of  the  Lower  House  and  two  out  of  the  twenty- 
four  members  of  the  Senate  were  to  be  appointed 
to  represent  the  non-Christian  peoples  of  the  Is- 
lands. As  a  result  of  this  arrangement,  three 
prominent  Moros  and  two  pagans  received  the 
appointment.  The  most  conspicuous  citizen  of 
the  Moro  people,  Hadji  Butu  Baki,  was  ap- 
pointed Senator,  and  Datu  Piang  and  Datu 


126        SELF-GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

Benito  were  appointed  Representatives.  Their 
appointment  was  received  with  great  satisfaction 
by  the  Moro  people,  and  for  the  first  time  in  the 
history  of  the  Philippine  Islands,  the  Moham- 
medan Filipinos  sat  side  by  side  with  the  Chris- 
tian Filipinos  in  the  legislative  halls  to  work  out 
the  destinies  of  their  common  country.  Senator 
Butu  and  Representatives  Benito  and  Piang 
were  granted  the  special  privilege  of  taking  the 
oath  of  office  on  the  Koran.  This  act  of  the 
Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  was  looked 
upon  by  the  representative  Mohammedans  pres- 
ent at  the  inauguration  as  assurance  of  an  atti- 
tude of  religious  tolerance  and  respect  on  the 
part  of  the  Christian  Filipinos.  It  was  not  con- 
sidered a  mere  courtesy,  but  rather  a  guarantee 
of  non-interference  in  their  religious  affairs. 

Coincident  with  the  inauguration  of  the  Phil- 
ippine Congress  there  were  presented  significant 
memorials  indicative  of  the  feeling  of  confidence 
and  love  which  the  Moro  people  have  for  their 
Christian  brothers.  These  memorials  were  ad- 
dressed to  both  houses  of  the  Legislature, 
through  the  Governor-General,  signed  by  the 
Sultan  of  Sulu  and  the  most  important  and  in- 
fluential Datus  in  the  Sulu  Archipelago,  Cota- 
bato  and  Lanao  and  Zamboanga  Provinces,  rep- 


THE  NON-CHRISTIAN  TRIBES  127 

resenting  all  classes  of  Mohammedans  in  Min- 
danao-Sulu,  expressing  their  gratitude  for  ma- 
terial benefits  and  political  privileges  afforded 
Mohammedans  during  the  past  three  years,  and 
also  for  the  liberal  appropriations  for  public 
schools,  health,  and  public  works,  and  for  the 
representation  in  both  houses  of  the  Philippine 
Legislature  granted  under  the  new  Organic  Act 
for  the  Philippine  Government.  The  memorials 
also  expressed  the  hope  that  the  administration 
would  continue  to  strengthen  the  existing  close 
relations  between  all  the  people  of  the  Philip- 
pine Islands.1 

Such,  in  brief,  has  been  our  policy  towards 
the  non-Christian  peoples.  It  is  acknowledged 
by  all  unbiased  observers  as  a  decided  success. 
It  is  an  unprecedented  treatment  of  non-Chris- 
tian peoples  by  their  more  civilized  fellow  men, 
who,  by  sheer  number,  strength  and  superior 
civilization,  could,  under  recognized  practices, 
claim  to  be  the  sole  owners  of  the  country.  You 
can  now  travel  from  one  end  of  the  Moro  region 
to  the  other  in  safety.  The  schools  have  brought 
the  standard  of  the  Moro  people  nearer  that  of 
their  Christian  brothers.  Teachers,  doctors  and 

i  From  a  recent  report  by  Governor  Frank  W.  Carpenter,  of 
the  Department  of  Mindanao  and  Sulu. 


128        SELF-GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

nurses  from  all  over  the  Islands  have  carried  a 
message  of  friendship  and  love  and  have  estab- 
lished more  firmly  the  national  solidarity  of 
Christians  and  non-Christians  than  the  severest 
policy  of  blood  and  iron  would  have  done.  The 
respect  that  the  Christian  Filipinos  have  shown 
towards  the  religion  of  the  Moros  has  inspired 
them  with  renewed  confidence.  The  participa- 
tion that  the  Moro  people  were  given  in  national 
law-making  bound  them  closer  still  to  Christian 
Filipinos.  "  We  are  one  in  spirit  and  one  in 
blood,"  says  Senator  Hadji  Butu. 

Upon  the  establishment  of  the  Philippine  Re- 
public the  world  will  certainly  find  the  non- 
Christian  Filipinos  as  enthusiastic  supporters  of 
its  independence  as  their  Christian  brothers. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

A   STABLE  GOVERNMENT   ESTABLISHED 

"  T  T  is,  as  it  has  always  been,  the  purpose  of 
A  the  people  of  the  United  States  to  withdraw 
their  sovereignty  over  the  Philippine  Islands  and 
to  recognize  their  independence  as  soon  as  a 
stable  government  can  be  established  therein." 
Thus  runs  the  fundamental  pledge  of  the  Amer- 
ican people  to  the  Filipino  people.  The  inde- 
pendence of  the  Philippines  is  to  be  recognized 
"  as  soon  as  a  stable  government  can  be  estab- 
lished therein."  But  what  does  America  mean 
by  a  stable  government  f 

The  phrase  "  a  stable  government "  is  not,  as 
has  been  claimed  by  some,  vague  and  ambiguous. 
It  has  a  definite  meaning  in  American  interna- 
tional law,  especially  in  the  history  of  America's 
relations  with  weak  countries  struggling  for  in- 
dependence. It  was  not  the  first  time  that  the 
American  Government  used  the  phrase  in  con- 
nection with  the  recognition  of  new  states. 
When  in  1875  there  was  considerable  agitation  in 

129 


130        SELF-GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

the  United  States  to  recognize  the  independence 
of  the  Cubans,  struggling  to  shake  off  the  Span- 
ish yoke,  President  Grant,  in  his  message  to 
Congress,  expressed  the  idea  that  not  until  the 
Cuban  people  had  set  up  a  government 
"  possessed  of  the  elements  of  stability "  could 
recognition  be  possible.  Quoting  his  own 
words : 

"Where  a  considerable  body  of  people,  who  have  at- 
tempted to  free  themselves  of  the  control  of  the  su- 
perior government,  have  reached  such  point  in  occu- 
pation of  territory,  in  power,  and  in  general  organiza- 
tion as  to  constitute  in  fact  a  body  politic,  having  a 
government  in  substance  as  well  as  in  name,  possessed 
of  the  elements  of  stability,  and  equipped  with  the 
machinery  for  the  administration  of  internal  policy 
and  the  execution  of  its  laws,  prepared  and  able  to  ad- 
minister justice  at  home,  as  well  as  in  its  dealing  with 
other  powers,  it  is  within  the  province  of  those  other 
powers  to  recognize  its  existence  as  a  new  and  inde- 
pendent nation." 

Elucidating  further  what  he  meant  by  such  a 
government,  he  said : 

"To  establish  the  condition  of  things  essential  to 
the  recognition  of  this  fact,  there  must  be  a  people  oc- 
cupying a  known  territory,  united  under  some  known 
and  defined  form  of  government,  acknowledged  by 
those  subject  thereto,  in  which  the  functions  of  gov- 


A  STABLE  GOVERNMENT  ESTABLISHED        131 

eminent  are  administered  by  usual  methods,  competent 
to  mete  out  justice  to  citizens  and  strangers,  to  afford 
remedies  for  public  and  for  private  wrongs,  and  able 
to  assume  the  correlative  international  obligations  and 
capable  of  performing  the  corresponding  international 
duties  resulting  from  its  acquisition  of  the  rights  of 
sovereignty. ' ' 

President  McKinley,  when  confronted  with 
the  same  problem  of  the  recognition  of  Cuban 
independence,  quoted  the  very  words  of  Presi- 
dent Grant,  saying: 

"The  United  States,  in  addition  to  the  test  imposed 
by  public  law  as  the  condition  of  the  recognition  of 
independence  by  a  neutral  state  (to  wit,  that  the  re- 
volted state  shall  'constitute  in  fact  a  body  politic, 
having  a  government  in  substance  as  well  as  in  name, 
possessed  of  all  the  elements  of  stability,'  and  form- 
ing de  facto,  'if  left  to  itself,  a  state  among  the  nations, 
reasonably  capable  of  discharging  the  duties  of  a 
state'),  has  imposed  for  its  own  government  in  dealing 
with  cases  like  these  the  further  condition  that  recog- 
nition of  independent  statehood  is  not  due  to  a  re- 
volted dependency  until  the  danger  of  its  being  again 
subjugated  by  the  parent  state  has  entirely  passed 
away. ' ' 

In  the  recognition  of  foreign  governments, 
the  conditions  imposed  by  the  United  States  be- 
fore such  recognition  could  be  granted,  were 


132       SELF-GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

merely  conditions  of  fact  —  whether  the  govern- 
ment which  desired  to  be  recognized  was  a  de 
facto  government,  actually  independent  from 
the  mother  country.  It  did  not  matter  whether 
such  a  government  had  been  established  legally 
or  not.  When  Mr.  Adams  was  Secretary  of 
State,  the  question  of  recognizing  the  independ- 
ence of  Venezuela  was  taken  up,  and  he  said : 

' '  There  is  a  stage  in  such  contests  when  the  parties 
struggling  for  independence  have,  as  I  conceive,  a 
right  to  demand  its  acknowledgment  by  neutral  par- 
ties, and  when  the  acknowledgment  may  be  granted 
without  departure  from  the  obligations  of  neutrality. 
It  is  the  stage  when  independence  is  established  as  a 
matter  of  fact  so  as  to  leave  the  chances  of  the  opposite 
party  to  recover  their  dominion  utterly  desperate. 
...  I  am  satisfied  that  the  cause  of  the  South  Ameri- 
cans, so  far  as  it  consists  in  the  assertion  of  indepen- 
dence against  Spain,  is  just.  But  the  justice  of  the 
cause,  however  it  may  enlist  individual  feelings  in  its 
favor,  is  not  sufficient  to  justify  third  parties  in  siding 
with  it.  The  fact  and  the  right  combined  can  alone 
authorize  a  neutral  to  acknowledge  a  new  and  disputed 
sovereignty.  The  neutral  may,  indeed,  infer  the  right 
from  the  fact,  but  not  the  fact  from  the  right. 

"In  every  question  relating  to  the  independence  of 
a  nation  two  principles  are  involved,  one  of  right  and 
the  other  of  fact:  the  former  exclusively  depending 
upon  the  determination  of  the  nation  itself,  and  the 


A  STABLE  GOVERNMENT  ESTABLISHED        133 

latter  resulting  from  the  successful  execution  of  that 
determination." 

A  similar  exposition  of  the  American  theory 
was  stated  by  President  Jackson  in  his  message 
of  December  21,  1836,  upon  the  question  of 
recognizing  the  independence  of  Texas.  He 
said: 

".  .  .  All  questions  relative  to  the  government  of 
foreign  nations,  whether  of  the  Old  or  New  World, 
have  been  treated  by  the  United  States  as  questions  of 
fact  only,  and  our  predecessors  have  cautiously  ab- 
stained from  deciding  upon  them  until  the  clearest  evi- 
dence was  in  their  possession  to  enable  them  not  only 
to  decide  correctly,  but  to  shield  their  decisions  from 
every  unworthy  imputation.  .  .  . 

"It  has  thus  made  known  to  the  world  that  the 
uniform  policy  and  practice  of  the  United  States  is  to 
avoid  all  interference  in  disputes  which  merely  relate 
to  the  internal  government  of  other  nations,  and  even- 
tually to  recognize  the  'authority  of  the  prevailing 
party  without  reference  to  our  particular  interests  and 
views  or  to  the  merits  of  the  original  controversy. 
Public  opinion  here  is  so  firmly  established  and  well 
understood  in  favor  of  this  policy  that  no  serious  dis- 
agreement has  ever  risen  among  ourselves  in  relation 
to  it,  although  brought  under  view  in  a  variety  of 
forms  and  at  periods  when  the  minds  of  the  people 
were  greatly  excited  by  the  agitation  of  topics  purely 
domestic  in  their  character.  Nor  has  any  deliberate 


134        SELF-GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

inquiry  ever  been  instituted  in  Congress  or  in  any  of 
our  legislative  bodies  as  to  whom  belonged  the  power 
of  originally  recognizing  a  new  state.  ..." 

These  views  were  again  corroborated  and  re- 
peated by  President  McKinley  in  his  message  of 
April  11,  1898. 

Following  the  foregoing  principles,  the  South 
American  republics  were  one  by  one  recognized 
as  soon  as  they  had  shown  that  they  had  a  gov- 
ernment exercising  all  governmental  functions 
without  the  possibility  of  its  being  reconquered 
by  the  sovereign  state.  It  was  not  required 
even  that  the  governments  so  recognized  should 
be  a  republic  or  an  empire,  for  the  empire  of 
Brazil  was  recognized  in  the  same  way  that  re- 
publics were  recognized. 

The  elements  of  stability  of  which  President 
Grant  spoke  and  which  were  re-echoed  by  Presi- 
dent McKinley  only  meant  a  de  facto  govern- 
ment supported  by  the  people.  But  the  more 
pertinent  precedent  for  the  Philippines  is  the 
case  of  Cuba.  The  United  States  had  required  of 
Cuba  the  establishment  of  the  very  same  kind  of 
government  which  she  now  requires  of  the  Fili- 
pino people  —  a  stable  government  —  before  final 
recognition  was  given  to  the  Cuban  Republic.  It 
may  be  recalled  that  the  misery  and  starvation  of 


A  STABLE  GOVERNMENT  ESTABLISHED        135 

the  Cuban  people  under  the  hands  of  the  Spanish 
government  and  the  desire  to  establish  a  stable 
government  in  Cuba  was  the  prime  cause  of  the 
Spanish-American  War.  In  his  message  to  Con- 
gress of  April  11,  1898,  depicting  what  was  hap- 
pening to  Cuba  and  what  America  should  do, 
President  McKinley  said : 

"  The  only  hope  of  relief  and  repose  from  a  condi- 
tion which  can  no  longer  be  endured  is  the  enforced 
pacification  of  Cuba.  In  the  name  of  humanity,  in 
the  name  of  civilization,  in  behalf  of  endangered 
American  interests  which  give  us  the  right  and  the 
duty  to  speak  and  to  act,  the  war  in  Cuba  must  stop. 

' '  In  view  of  these  facts  and  otf  these  considerations 
I  ask  the  Congress  to  authorize  and  empower  the 
President  to  take  measures  to  secure  a  full  and  final 
termination  of  hostilities  between  the  Government  of 
Spain  and  the  people  of  Cuba,  and  to  secure  in  the 
island  the  establishment  of  a  stable  government  capa- 
ble of  maintaining  order  and  observing  its  interna- 
tional obligations,  insuring  peace  and  tranquillity  and 
the  security  of  its  citizens  as  well  as  our  own,  and  to 
use  the  military  and  naval  forces  of  the  United  States 
as  may  be  necessary  for  these  purposes. ' ' 

As  a  result  of  the  war,  Spain  was  obliged  to 
withdraw  her  sovereignty  from  Cuba.  The 
American  Government  occupied  the  Island  tem- 
porarily and  proceeded  to  establish  a  stable  gov- 


136        SELF-GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

ernment.  The  first  step  was  the  taking  of  a 
census  to  ascertain  the  political  capacity  of  the 
people.  It  was  found  that  "  sixty-six  per  cent 
of  the  inhabitants  of  the  Islands  could  not  read 
and  write  "  (a  much  higher  per  cent  than  in  the 
Philippines),  and  a  limited  suffrage  was  there- 
fore established  based  on  the  same  conditions 
as  those  in  the  Philippine  Islands,  except  that 
those  who  had  served  in  the  Cuban  army  were 
allowed  to  vote.  After  the  census  was  taken,  a 
provisional  law  was  ordered  by  the  military  gov- 
ernor, General  Wood,  to  hold  municipal  and  pro- 
vincial elections.  Then  the  same  voters  who 
voted  in  the  municipal  and  provincial  elections 
were  called  upon  to  elect  the  members  of  a  con- 
stitutional convention  which  was  to  draft  a  Con- 
stitution for  Cuba.  The  Military  Governor 
opened  the  convention  and,  by  direction  of  the 
Secretary  of  War,  said,  among  other  things : 

"  It  will  be  your  duty  first  to  frame  and  adopt 
a  constitution  of  Cuba  .  .  .  adequate  to  secure  a 
stable,  orderly  and  free  government." 

To  explain  further  what  was  meant  by  a  "  sta- 
ble, orderly  and  free  government  "  when  the  con- 
vention appeared  to  be  drawing  near  the  conclu- 
sion of  its  constitution-drafting,  Secretary  Root 


©  Harris  &  Ewing 

THE  HONORABLE  MANUEL  L.  QUEZON 

President  of  the  Philippine  Senate  and  Chairman  of  the  Philippine  Mission  to  the 

United  States 


A  STABLE  GOVERNMENT  ESTABLISHED        137 

again  sent  instructions  to  the  Convention 
through  the  Military  Governor  of  Cuba.  Mr. 
Root  then  said : 

".  .  .  It  is  plain  that  the  government  to  which  we 
were  thus  to  transfer  our  temporary  obligations  should 
be  a  government  based  upon  the  peaceful  suffrages 
of  the  people  of  Cuba,  representing  the  entire  people 
and  holding  their  power  from  the  people,  and  subject 
to  the  limitations  and  safeguards  which  the  experience 
of  constitutional  government  has  shown  to  be  neces- 
sary to  the  preservation  of  individual  rights.  .  .  ." 

An  interesting  document,  the  American  Gov- 
ernment's official  account  of  the  establishment 
of  Cuban  independence  prepared  by  the  War  De- 
partment and  entitled  "  The  Establishment  of 
Free  Government  in  Cuba"  (Sen.  doc.  312,  58th 
Cong.  2d  Ses.),  describes  the  stable  government 
required  of  Cuba,  in  the  following  words : 

' '  The  occupation  of  the  island  by  the  United  States 
being  established,  it  was  necessary  to  enter  upon  the 
work  of  creating  and  establishing  a  stable  government 
administered  by  the  Cuban  people,  republican  in 
form,  and  competent  to  discharge  the  obligations  of 
international  relationship  and  be  entitled  to  a  place  in 
the  family  of  nations." 

The  constitution  drafted  by  the  Cuban  people 


138       SELF-GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

was  not  even  to  the  entire  satisfaction  of  Secre- 
tary Boot,  but  it  was  the  deliberate  work  of  the 
representatives  of  the  Cuban  people  and,  there- 
fore, it  was  considered  acceptable.  On  Decem- 
ber 31,  1901,  the  Cuban  people  elected  provincial 
governors  and  councilors,  members  of  the  House 
of  Representatives,  and  presidential  and  sena- 
torial electors.  The  presidential  and  senatorial 
electors,  in  turn,  met  on  February  24,  1902,  to 
elect  a  President,  a  Vice-President  and  Senators. 
After  all  these  officials  were  duly  elected,  the 
American  Government  prepared  to  transfer  the 
government  into  their  hands.  The  condition  of 
stability  had  been  accomplished  and  on  May  20, 
1902,  the  Military  Governor,  representing  the 
President  of  the  United  States,  read  the  fateful 
instrument  which  transferred  to  "  the  duly 
elected  representatives  of  the  people  of  Cuba  the 
government  and  control  of  the  islands,"  and  de- 
clared "  the  occupation  of  Cuba  by  the  United 
States  and  the  military  government  of  the  islands 
to  be  ended." 

A  stable  government  has  therefore  meant  in 
Cuba  a  government  duly  elected  by  the  people. 
This  is  the  unmistakable  interpretation  given  by 
the  American  Government  in  the  words  "  stable 
government."  When  in  1906  America  was,  upon 


A  STABLE  GOVERNMENT  ESTABLISHED        139 

the  petition  of  President  Palma,  obliged  to  in- 
tervene in  Cuba  and  stop  the  revolution  which 
threatened  the  downfall  of  the  government,  a 
stable  government  had  again  to  be  established. 
Secretary  Taft,  who  was  then  sent  to  Cuba  to  act 
as  provisional  governor  (as  General  Wood  did 
in  1900-2),  found  the  political  situation  by  no 
means  complimentary  to  the  political  capacity  of 
the  people.  He  found  that  the  election  con- 
ducted by  the  Cuban  people  had  been  a  tremen- 
dous farce.  He  said  : 

"...  The  registration  conducted  by  the  registrars 
elected  at  the  preliminary  election,  which  began  in 
the  first  days  of  October,  resulted  in  a  registration  of 
432,000  voters  in  the  island  of  Cuba,  whereas  by  no 
possibility  could  the  total  number  of  voters  exceed 
300,000,  and,  as  many  of  the  Liberals  did  not  register, 
the  fraud  involved  in  this  registration  amounted  to 
an  increase  of  150,000  names.  ..." 

The  situation  was  officially  described  by  the 
next  provisional  governor,  Judge  Magoon,  in  the 
following  words : 

"  Upon  President  Palma's  affiliation  with  the  Mod- 
erate party,  the  policy  was  adopted  of  displacing  Lib- 
erals from  official  positions  —  national,  provincial,  and 
municipal  —  throughout  the  island,  filling  their  places 
with  members  of  the  Moderate  party.  This  embit- 


140        SELF-GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

tered  the  opposition  to  the  Administration.  When 
the  time  for  elections  approached  the  Liberals  made 
nominations  for  all  the  offices  and  entered  upon  a  vig- 
orous campaign.  The  Independent  Nationals  favored 
the  reelection  of  President  Palma,  and  locally  com- 
bined with  the  Moderates.  All  the  powers  of  the 
Executive  branch  of  the  Government  were  utilized  to 
secure  the  success  of  the  Moderate  party  in  the  na- 
tional, provincial,  and  municipal  elections,  and  mea- 
sures were  taken  of  such  kind  and  character  as  to 
create  a  belief  in  the  minds  of  a  large  number  of 
electors  that  the  laws  had  been  violated,  the  constitu- 
tion subverted,  the  rights  of  citizens  invaded,  and  the 
character  of  the  Government  changed ;  in  other  words, 
that  recourse  had  been  had  to  unlawful  exercise  of 
power  and  perpetration  of  gross  injustice  to  such  an 
extent  as  to  vitiate  the  elections." 

So  America  had  again  to  establish  a  "  stable 
government "  in  Cuba.  To  use  Mr.  Taft's  own 
words  in  explaining  the  plan  of  the  second  pro- 
visional government,  "  Cuba  must  be  returned 
to  the  Cuban  government  fairly  elected  as  soon 
as  the  condition  and  the  tranquillity  of  the  coun- 
try will  permit  and  will  assure  the  stability  of 
the  government  to  be  established."  The  work  of 
Governor  Wood  was  again  undertaken.  The 
provisional  governor  saw  to  it  that  the  Cuban 
people  elected  municipal  and  provincial  officials, 
members  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  Sen- 


A  STABLE  GOVERNMENT  ESTABLISHED        141 

ators,  a  President  and  a  Vice-President.  As  soon 
as  all  these  officials  were  elected  and  installed  in 
office,  Cuba  was  again  restored  to  the  Cuban  peo- 
ple —  under  a  stable  government. 

That  this  was  the  same  meaning  given  to  the 
phrase  "  stable  government  "  as  used  in  the  pre- 
amble to  the  Jones  Law  is  very  easily  demon- 
strated. The  phrase  "  stable  government "  was 
first  used  in  connection  with  the  Philippine  prob- 
lem in  the  Democratic  platform  of  1900.  "  We 
favor  an  immediate  declaration,"  reads  the  plat- 
form of  1900,  "  of  the  nation's  purpose  to  give 
the  Philippines^  first,  a  stable  form  of  govern- 
ment; second,  Independence;  and  third,  protec- 
tion from  outside  interference,  such  as  has  been 
given  for  nearly  a  century  to  the  republics  of 
Central  and  South  America."  Mr.  Bryan,  who 
was  the  author  of  the  Philippine  plank  of  1900, 
declared  that  the  phrase  "  stable  government " 
meant  the  same  kind  of  government  that  was  be- 
ing established  in  Cuba.  In  accepting  the  nom- 
ination for  the  presidency,  he  said :  "  If  elected, 
I  will  convene  Congress  in  extraordinary  session 
as  soon  as  inaugurated  and  recommend  an  im- 
mediate declaration  of  the-nation's  purpose,  first, 
to  establish  a  stable  form  of  government  in  the 
Philippine  Islands,  just  as  we  are  now  establish- 


142        SELF-GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

ing  a  stable  form  of  government  in  Cuba;  sec- 
ond, to  give  independence  to  the  Filipinos  as  we 
have  promised  to  give  independence  to  the  Cu- 
bans; third,  to  protect  the  Filipinos  from  out- 
side interference  while  they  work  out  their  des- 
tiny, just  as  we  have  protected  the  republics  of 
Central  and  South  America,  and  are,  by  the  Mon- 
roe Doctrine,  pledged  to  protect  Cuba."  His  op- 
ponent, President  McKinley,  did  not  differ  from 
him  as  to  the  kind  of  government  a  "  stable  gov- 
ernment "  meant,  but  he  did  not  favor  at  that 
time  the  establishment  in  the  Philippines  of  such 
a  government.  He  said:  "We  are  required  to 
set  up  a  stable  government  in  the  interest  of 
those  who  have  assailed  our  sovereignty  and  fired 
upon  our  soldiers,  and  then  maintain  it  at  any 
cost  or  sacrifice  against  its  enemies  and  against 
those  having  ambitious  designs  from  without." 

The  Democratic  platform  of  1914  advocated 
the  same  plan  without  using  the  phrase  "  stable 
government."  It  read:  "We  insist  that  we 
ought  to  do  for  the  Filipinos  what  we  have  done 
already  for  the  Cubans,  and  it  is  our  duty  to 
make  that  promise  now  and  upon  suitable  guar- 
antees of  protection  to  citizens  of  our  own  and 
other  countries  resident  there  at  the  time  of  our 
withdrawal,  set  the  Filipino  people  upon  their 


A  STABLE  GOVERNMENT  ESTABLISHED        143 

feet,  free  and  independent  to  work  out  their  own 
destiny."  The  Democratic  platforms  of  1908 
and  1912  contained  the  following :  "  We  favor 
an  immediate  declaration  of  the  nation's  purpose 
to  recognize  the  independence  of  the  Philippine 
Islands  as  soon  as  a  stable  government  can  be 
established."  As  will  be  noticed,  the  preamble 
to  the  Jones  Law  was  taken  verbatim  from  the 
foregoing  plank. 

In  the  final  settlement  of  the  Philippine  inde- 
pendence question,  would  the  United  States  give 
any  possible  interpretation  to  the  phrase  "  stable 
government  "  other  than  that  which  she  had  in 
the  past,  by  a  long  line  of  precedents,  given  it? 
We  doubt  it.  Nothing  but  a  desire  to  evade  the 
fulfillment  of  the  promise  would  put  a  different 
interpretation  to  the  pledge  the  American  peo- 
ple have  given  to  the  Filipinos.  A  stable  gov- 
ernment cannot  mean  any  other  thing  than  what 
America  has  meant  in  Cuba.  That  is  the  only 
kind  of  government  that  can  be  termed  "  sta- 
ble "  -  one  that  is  supported  and  upheld  by  the 
people  themselves  through  their  peaceful  suf- 
frages. No  other  criterion  for  the  stability  of 
a  human  institution  can  be  had  than  the  fact 
that  it  rests  upon  the  will  of  the  people  ex- 
pressed through  legal  channels. 


144        SELF-GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

That  the  Philippines  now  possess  such  a  kind 
of  government  —  a  government  elected  by  the 
people,  capable  of  keeping  order  and  fulfilling 
international  obligations  —  is  the  firm  convic- 
tion of  the  Filipino  people  as  expressed  by  their 
constitutional  representatives.  That  is  why 
they  deem  it  absolutely  essential  that  the  final 
settlement  of  the  independence  question  be  now 
made  once  for  all.  On  November  7,  1918,  the 
Philippine  Legislature  passed  a  concurrent  res- 
olution creating  a  "  Commission  of  Independ- 
ence "  to  be  composed  of  the  presiding  officers  of 
both  houses  of  the  Legislature  and  other  mem- 
bers of  the  Legislature,  for  the  purpose  of  con- 
sidering and  reporting  to  the  Legislature : 

"  (a)  Ways  and  means  of  negotiation  now  for  the 
granting  and  recognition  of  the  independence  of  the 
Philippines ; 

"  (b)  External  guarantees  of  the  stability  and  per- 
manence of  said  independence  as  well  as  of  territorial 
integrity;  and 

"  (c)  Ways  and  means  of  organizing  in  a.  speedy, 
effectual  and  orderly  manner  a  constitutional  and 
democratic  internal  government." 

On  March  7,  1919,  the  Philippine  Legislature 
passed  a  Declaration  of  Purposes  officially  set- 
ting forth  the  position  of  the  Filipino  people  on 


A  STABLE  GOVERNMENT  ESTABLISHED        145 

this  vital  problem.  "  The  Philippine  question," 
said  the  representatives  of  the  Filipino  people, 
"  has  reached  such  a  stage  that  a  full  and  final 
exchange  of  views  between  the  United  States  of 
America  and  the  Philippine  Islands  has  become 
necessary.  We  need  not  repeat  the  declarations 
respecting  the  national  aspirations  of  the  Fili- 
pino people.  Such  declarations  have  been  made 
from  time  to  time  in  the  most  frank  and  solemn 
manner  by  the  constitutional  representatives  of 
the  Philippine  Nation  and  are  a  matter  of  per- 
manent record  in  public  documents  covering 
more  than  a  decade  of  persistent  efforts  par- 
ticularly during  the  last  three  years.  America, 
on  her  part,  has  been  sufficiently  explicit  in  her 
purposes  from  the  beginning  of  her  occupation 
of  the  Philippines.  .  .  . 

"  In  applying  the  principles  enunciated  in 
documents  and  utterances  on  the  Philippines  to 
the  conditions  now  existing  in  the  Islands,  the 
Independence  Commission  will  find  the  follow- 
ing facts : 

"  That  there  exist  at  present  in  the  Philippine 
Islands  the  conditions  of  order  and  government 
which  America  has  for  nearly  a  century  and  a 
half  required  in  all  cases  in  which  she  has  recog- 
nized the  independence  of  a  country  or  the  estab- 


146        SELF-GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

lishment  of  a  new  government,  not  even  except- 
ing the  case  of  General  Huerta's  government  in 
Mexico  which  she  refused  to  recognize  because  it 
was  stained  with  blood  and  founded  on  intrigue, 
violence  and  crime; 

"  That  there  exist  likewise  in  the  Philippines 
all  the  conditions  of  stability  and  guaranties 
for  law  and  order  that  Cuba  had  to  establish  to 
the  satisfaction  of  America  in  order  to  obtain 
her  independence,  or  to  preserve  it,  during  the 
military  occupation  of  1898-1903  and  during  the 
intervention  of  1906-1909,  respectively; 

"  That  the  '  preparation  for  independence  '  and 
the  '  stable  government '  required  by  President 
Wilson  and  the  Congress  of  the  United  States, 
respectively,  contain  no  new  requisite  not  in- 
cluded in  any  of  the  cases  above  cited ; 

"  That  these  prerequisites  for  Philippine  in- 
dependence are  the  same  as  those  virtually  or 
expressly  established  by  the  Republican  admin- 
istrations that  preceded  President  Wilson's  ad- 
ministration ; 

"  Therefore,  so  far  as  it  is  humanly  possible 
to  judge  and  say,  we  can  see  only  one  aim  for  the 
Independence  Commission :  Independence ;  and 
we  can  give  only  one  instruction :  to  get  it. 
Thus  America,  in  adding  another  glory  to  her 


A  STABLE  GOVERNMENT  ESTABLISHED        147 

banner  by  establishing  the  first  really  democratic 
republic  in  the  East  will  apply  a  second  time, 
generously  and  freely,  the  same  measure  of  hu- 
manity and  justice  that  she  applied  in  the  case 
of  Cuba."  * 

One  of  the  first  actions  of  the  Commission  of 
Independence  was  to  recommend  the  sending  of 
a  special  Philippine  Mission  to  the  United  States. 
This  recommendation  was  approved  by  the 
Philippine  Legislature  in  Joint  Resolution  No. 
11,  and  forty  prominent  Filipinos  representing 
both  houses  of  the  Legislature,  commercial,  in- 
dustrial, agricultural  and  labor  interests,  pre- 
sided over  by  Senate  President  Manuel  L.  Que- 
zon as  Chairman,  and  Secretary  of  the  Interior 
Rafael  Palma  as  Vice-Chairman.  The  Philip- 
pine Mission  was  officially  received  by  Secretary 
of  War  Baker  on  April  4,  1919.  Senator  Que- 
zon, Chairman  of  the  Mission,  presented  the 
claim  of  the  Filipinos,  saying: 

"  The  Philippine  Mission,  Mr.  Secretary,  is 
here  charged  with  a  high  and  solemn  obligation. 
It  is  enjoined  with  a  noble  and  sacred  trust. 
It  is  instructed  to  present  the  great  cause  so 
essential  and  necessary  to  the  happiness  and  ex- 

i  For  the  full  text  of  the  Declaration  of  Purposes  see  Ap- 
pendix B. 


148        SELF-GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

istence  of  the  entire  Filipino  people.  I  refer 
to  our  national  birthright  to  be  free  and  inde- 
pendent. We,  therefore,  formally  submit  hereby 
the  vital  and  urgent  question  of  Philippine  In- 
dependence to  you,  and  through  you,  to  the  Gov- 
ernment of  the  United  States,  in  the  confident 
hope  that  it  shall  merit  a  just,  righteous,  and 
final  settlement. 

"  Independence  is  the  great  national  ideal  of 
the  Filipino  people.  The  members  of  the  Philip- 
pine Mission  here,  representing  all  elements  of 
Philippine  life,  are,  one  and  all,  ready  to  testify 
to  the  absolute  truth  of  this  assertion.  We  be- 
lieve that  this  is  the  proper  time  to  present  the 
question,  looking  to  a  favorable  and  decisive  ac- 
tion, because  of  the  declared  and  uniform  policy 
of  America  to  withdraw  her  sovereignty  over  the 
Philippine  Islands  and  to  recognize  our  inde- 
pendence as  soon  as  a  stable  government  can  be 
established."  l 

The  representatives  of  the  Filipino  people 
have  every  reason  to  believe  that  there  is  now  a 
stable  Philippine  government.  Our  present  gov- 
ernment, to  quote  Mr.  Root's  admonition  to  the 
Cuban  people,  is  "  a  government  based  upon  the 

i  For  instructions  of  the  Commission  of  Independence  to  the 
Philippine  Mission  to  the  United  States  see  Appendix  C. 


A  STABLE  GOVERNMENT  ESTABLISHED        149 

peaceful  suffrage  of  the  people,  representing  the 
entire  people  and  holding  their  power  from  the 
people,  and  subject  to  the  limitations  and  safe- 
guards which  the  experience  of  a  constitutional 
government  has  shown  to  be  necessary  to  the 
preservation  of  individual  rights." 

Our  central,  provincial  and  municipal  govern- 
ments rest  upon  the  peaceful  suffrages  of  the 
Filipino  people.  For  more  than  a  decade  we 
have  been  successfully  conducting  through  popu- 
lar suffrage  our  provincial  and  municipal  gov- 
ernments. "  Native  Filipino  officials,"  says  Gov- 
ernor-General Harrison,  "  are  today  governing 
one  thousand  municipalities  and  forty-two  prov- 
inces, economically,  efficiently,  and  for  the  good 
of  the  entire  people."  Our  central  government, 
as  we  have  noted  elsewhere,  contains  a  complete 
governmental  machinery,  recognized  and  sup- 
ported by  the  people.  The  active  and  govern- 
ing part  of  that  machinery  is  already  in  the  hands 
of  the  Filipinos.  We  have  an  elective  legisla- 
ture, composed  of  the  House  of  Representatives 
and  a  Senate,  chosen  by  the  qualified  voters  of 
the  Islands.  It  has  general  legislative  powers 
within  the  limitations  of  the  Jones  Law.  In  that 
legislature  the  non-Christian  people  are  also  rep- 
resented by  nine  appointed  members.  In  June 


150        SELF-GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

of  this  year  (1919)  there  will  be  a.  new  election 
of  the  legislature,  and  the  Filipino  people  will 
again  be  called  upon  to  choose  their  national 
representatives. 

We  have  a  Council  of  State  selected  from  the 
representatives  of  the  people,  which  advises  the 
Governor-General  on  all  public  matters,  prepares 
the  budget,  determines  the  policy  of  the  differ- 
ent departments  of  the  government,  and  recom- 
mends measures  to  the  legislature.  While  the 
Governor  presides  over  the  Council,  the  next 
highest  position  is  the  Vice-President  of  the 
Council,  occupied  by  a  Filipino. 

We  have  a  judicial  system  based  on  the  sound 
American  principle  of  an  independent  judiciary. 
Our  laws  and  our  courts  are  more  modern  and 
up-to-date  than  any  in  the  Far  East.  Our  codes 
are  based  on  Spanish  and  American  laws,  tak- 
ing in  the  conciseness,  symmetry,  and  philosophic 
beauty  of  Spanish  substantive  law,  together  with 
the  justice,  practicability,  efficiency  of  American 
procedure.  Our  judges,  with  a  few  exceptions, 
are  all  Filipinos,  and  they  have  proved  that  they 
can  administer  justice  fairly  and  efficiently  to 
nationals  and  foreigners  alike.  In  this  respect 
the  Philippines  are  already  more  autonomous 
than  independent  China,  for  Chinese  native 


A  STABLE  GOVERNMENT  ESTABLISHED        151 

judges  cannot  try  foreigners.  These  are  tried  in 
extra-territorial  courts  by  foreign  magistrates. 

Our  present  government  is  "  subject  to  the  lim- 
itations and  safeguards  which  the  experience  of 
a  constitutional  government  has  shown  to  be 
necessary  to  the  preservation  of  individual 
rights."  The  Philippine  Government  has  been 
subject  to  such  limitations  and  safeguards  since 
1900  when  President  McKinley  in  his  instruc- 
tions to  the  second  Philippine  Commission  set 
down  as  inviolable  rules  the  fundamental  pro- 
visions of  the  American  Bill  of  Rights.  Those 
provisions  with  little  modification  were  later  in- 
cluded in  the  Organic  Act  of  1902,  and  again  re- 
stated in  the  Jones  Law  of  1916.  For  nearly 
twenty  years,  therefore,  the  Philippine  Govern- 
ment has  been  subject  to  constitutional  limita- 
tions and  safeguards.  They  are  imbedded  in  the 
political  life  of  the  people,  and  no  matter  what 
political  change  may  occur  in  the  Philippines 
they  will  hardly  find  any  material  alteration. 

Thus  we  see  that  not  only  can  a  stable  govern- 
ment be  now  established  in  the  Philippines: 
such  a  government  is  ALREADY  established  there. 
In  the  words  of  Secretary  of  War  Baker,  who 
has  departmental  supervision  of  the  Philip- 
pines, "  the  functions  of  government  have  been 


152       SELF-GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

taken  over  by  the  people  of  the  Islands  them- 
selves, leaving  only  the  tenuous  connection  of 
the  Governor-General."  The  Governor-General 
may  leave  tomorrow,  and  no  institutional  change 
will  be  necessary  to  continue  the  work  of  gov- 
ernment. There  is  a  stable  government  ma- 
chinery set  up  and  supported  by  the  entire  peo- 
ple and  representing  the  entire  people  to  which 
the  governmental  powers  can  be  transferred. 
Under  such  a  contingency  the  Vice-President  of 
the  Council  of  State,  who  has  been  raised  to  that 
position  by  the  representatives  of  the  people,  will 
naturally  assume  the  place  of  the  Chief  Execu- 
tive, and  the  government  could  go  on  as  before 
until  the  Filipino  people  should  see  fit  to  hold  a 
constitutional  convention  for  the  drafting  of  a 
new  constitution  and  the  establishment  of  a  new 
government. 

But  we  have  not  only  established  a  stable  gov- 
ernment which  satisfies  all  —  or  more  than  all  — 
the  conditions  required  by  the  United  States. 
The  very  minute  such  a  government  was  estab- 
lished in  Cuba,  the  United  States  withdrew 
and  turned  over  all  the  governmental  powers  to 
the  newly  established  government.  They  did 
not  wait  to  see  how  that  stable  government 
would  work.  It  was  sufficient  for  them  that 


A  STABLE  GOVERNMENT  ESTABLISHED        153 

such  a  government  —  a  government  elected  by 
the  people  —  existed.  Once  convinced  of  that 
fact,  they  did  not  feel  themselves  justified  in 
remaining  a  minute  longer.  We  have  not  only 
established  a  stable  government  supported  by 
the  people,  but  we  have  successfully  worked 
that  government  to  the  satisfaction  of  America's 
own  representatives  in  the  Islands.  We  have 
taken  some  pains  to  show  in  the  previous  chap- 
ters what  this  stable  government  has  done  for 
the  country  and  the  people.  Let  us  hear  what 
the  American  representatives  in  the  Islands  them- 
selves have  to  say. 

"  The  Filipino  people,"  said  Governor-Gen- 
eral Harrison,  "  have  come  out  triumphantly 
through  their  trial.  By  temperament,  by  expe- 
rience, by  financial  ability,  in  every  way,  the  ten 
millions  of  Filipinos  are  entitled  to  be  free  from 
every  government  except  of  their  own  choice. 
They  are  intelligent  enough  to  decide  for  them- 
selves. I  have  found  the  native  Filipino  official 
to  be  honest,  efficient  and  as  capable  of  adminis- 
tering executive  positions  as  any  men  I  have 
met  anywhere  in  the  world.  These  officials  are 
today  governing  one  thousand  municipalities  and 
forty-two  provinces,  economically,  efficiently,  and 
for  the  good  of  the  entire  people. 


154       SELF-GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

"  The  wisdom  and  prudence  of  their  repre- 
sentatives, the  high  degree  of  self-control  which 
they  possess,  their  true  conception  and  faithful 
performance  of  their  public  duties  have  facili- 
tated the  immense  task  of  the  United  States  to 
establish  here  a  stable  and  progressive  govern- 
ment. 

"  The  Philippines  are  away  ahead  of  the 
United  States  in  successful  government  owner- 
ship and  operation  of  public  utilities.  The  gov- 
ernment took  hold  of  the  steam  railways  and 
made  them  pay  a  profit  of  1,000,000  pesos  a  year 
more  than  under  private  ownership.  It  took 
hold  of  the  highways  and  we  have  7,000  miles  of 
the  best  macadamized  roads  in  the  world.  The 
Manila  city  government  is  about  to  take  over  the 
street  railways  and  the  gas  and  electric  plants, 
while  the  territorial  government  is  arranging 
for  ownership  and  control  of  the  coal  supply." 

Vice-Governor  Charles  E.  Yeater,  now  (1919) 
Acting  Governor-General,  is  equally  eloquent  in 
his  praise  of  the  Filipinos.  In  an  official  cable- 
gram he  sent  to  the  Secretary  of  War  he  said : 

"  The  capacity  for  initiative  and  the  construc- 
tive spirit  evidenced  by  the  legislature,  the  first 
organized  under  the  Jones  law,  is  worthy  of 
great  commendation.  Its  capacity  to  investigate 


A  STABLE  GOVERNMENT  ESTABLISHED        155 

government  problems  and  to  act  expeditiously, 
but  with  due  caution,  is  certainly  unprecedented 
in  history,  considering  that  for  three  centuries 
this  people  had  practically  no  political  rights 
and  were  debarred  from  the  benefits  of  educa- 
tion. American  legislative  practice  and  proced- 
ure has  always  been  ex^Tmr^rl.  ^nd,  with  few 
exceptions,  followed.  As  indicative,  however,  of 
their  independent  frame  of  mind,  it  may  be  noted 
that  a  single  legislative  committee  has  had  charge 
of  both  appropriations  and  ways  and  means  since 
1907,  and  under  the  provisions  of  the  Jones  Law 
has  adopted  substantially  the  basic  principles  of 
the  English  budget  system,  instead  of  main- 
taining a  rigorous  application  of  the  theory  of 
the  separation  of  governmental  powers  as  far  as 
the  legislative  and  executive  departments  are 
concerned,  the  latter  directed  by  an  American. 
This  legislature  has  given  to  the  secretaries  of 
the  various  departments  the  right  to  appear  be- 
fore either  house  to  defend  publicly  the  meas- 
ures proposed  by  the  executive,  or  to  oppose  meas- 
ures originated  in  such  houses. 

"  Finally,  as  one  of  the  representatives  in  these 
Islands  of  the  United  States,  I  wish  to  attest 
the  patriotism  of  the  Filipinos  and  their  loyal 
attachment  to  the  United  States  Government. 


156        SELF-GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

This  legislature,  which  has  just  terminated  its 
sessions,  has  acted  with  judgment  and  pru- 
dence, and  in  what  it  has  done  and  left  un- 
done during  its  term  now  drawing  to  a  close, 
should  be  credited  for  the  wisdom  with  which  it 
has  guided  and  directed  the  Filipino  people  in 
the  paths  of  order  and  tranquillity  during  these 
recent  years  of  almost  universal  turmoil  and  un- 
rest. Perfect  peace  has  prevailed  here,  and  all 
provincial  and  municipal  governments'  instru- 
mentalities of  force  have  had  no  function  to  per- 
form." 

President  Wilson,  in  replying  through  the  Sec- 
retary of  War  to  the  Philippine  Mission,  ex- 
pressed his  deep  gratification  "  with  the  constant 
support  and  encouragement  received  from  the 
Filipino  people  and  from  the  Philippine  Legis- 
lature in  the  trying  period  through  which  we  are 
passing.  The  people  of  the  United  States,"  he 
said,  "  have,  with  reason,  taken  the  deepest  pride 
in  the  loyalty  and  support  of  the  Filipino  people. 

"  Though  unable  to  meet  the  commission,  the 
Filipino  people  shall  not  be  absent  from  my 
thoughts.  Not  the  least  important  labor  of  the 
conference  which  now  requires  my  attention  is 
that  of  making  the  pathway  of  the  weaker  peo- 
ple of  the  world  less  perilous  —  a  labor  which 


A  STABLE  GOVERNMENT  ESTABLISHED        157 

should  be,  and  doubtless  is,  of  deep  and  abiding 
interest  to  the  Filipino  people. 

"  I  am  sorry  that  I  cannot  look  into  the  faces 
of  the  gentlemen  of  this  mission  from  the  Philip- 
pine Islands  and  tell  them  all  that  I  have  in  mind 
and  heart  as  I  think  of  the  patient  labor,  with 
the  end  almost  in  sight,  undertaken  by  the  Amer- 
ican and  Filipino  peoples  for  their  permanent 
benefit." 

Thus  we  have  seen  that  American  executive 
officials,  including  President  Wilson,  are  al- 
ready satisfied  that  the  Filipino  people  have  per- 
formed their  part  of  the  covenant  with  the  Amer- 
ican people.  It  now  rests  with  the  American 
people,  through  their  constitutional  representa- 
tives, the  members  of  the  American  Congress,  to 
consider  whether  the  time  has  not  already  come 
to  discharge  their  own  obligations  fully  and  com- 
pletely. 


CHAPTER  IX 

THE  PROMISE   OP   THE   PHILIPPINES 

"  The  Filipino  people  would  not  be  just  to  them- 
selves if,  at  this  moment  when  their  political  separa- 
tion from  the  sovereign  country  is  proposed,  they 
should  fail  to  express  in  the  clearest  and  most  definite 
manner  the  sentiments  and  purposes  that  inspire  their 
action.  They  therefore  deem  it  their  duty  to  affirm : 
That  Independence,  instead  of  destroying  or  weaken- 
ing, will  tend  to  strengthen  the  bonds  of  friendship 
and  appreciation  created  by  the  gratitude  of  the  Fili- 
pino people,  not  only  for  the  final  measure  of  complete 
justice  and  humanity  that  they  confidently  expect, 
but  for  all  the  previous  disinterested  work  so  splen- 
didly performed  for  the  benefit  of  the  Philippines  by 
so  many  faithful  sons  of  America;  that  this  gratitude 
will  be  the  first  fundamental  fact  in  the  future  rela- 
tions between  the  United  States  and  the  Philippine 
Islands;  that  in  the  present  state  of  international 
affairs  the  Filipino  people  merely  aspire  to  become  an- 
other conscious  and  direct  instrument  for  the  progress 
of  liberty  and  civilization ;  that  in  the  tranquil  course 
of  their  years  of  constitutional  development  they  will 
maintain  for  all  people  inhabiting  their  hospitable 
land  the  essence  and  benefit  of  democratic  institutions ; 
that  they  will  continue  to  associate,  in  so  far  as  this 

158 


THE  PROMISE  OF  THE  PHILIPPINES        159 

will  be  acceptable  and  their  strength  will  permit,  in  the 
work  of  reconstruction,  justice,  and  peace  carried  on 
by  the  United  States  in  continuation  of  those  other 
undertakings,  the  high  purpose  of  which  was  the  cause, 
according  to  President  Wilson,  '  of  the  magnificent  co- 
operation during  the  war  ' ;  and,  finally,  that  in  thus 
preserving  their  best  traditions  and  institutions  in 
the  new  situation  which  will  strengthen  and  perfect 
them,  the  Filipino  people  will  continue  to  make  this 
country  as  heretofore  a  safe  place  of  law  and  order, 
justice  and  liberty,  where  Americans  and  foreigners 
as  well  as  Nationals  may  live  peacefully  in  the  pursuit 
of  happiness  and  prosperity  and  safe  in  the  enjoyment 
of  their  property  as  well  as  of  their  rights  and  their 
liberty." — Declaration  of  the  Commission  of  Inde- 
pendence of  the  Philippine  Legislature. 

PROPHETS  of  disaster  have  pictured  a  dark 
and  gloomy  future  for  the  Philippines 
after  the  attainment  of  their  independence. 
They  see  a  weak,  half-developed  country  in  the 
midst  of  mysterious  Asia,  steeped  in  everlasting 
intrigues  and  deceit,  and  in  their  mental  picture 
they  behold  the  Islands  immediately  gobbled  up 
or  partitioned  by  selfish  powers,  or  running  head- 
long towards  internal  chaos  and  anarchy.  As 
the  Filipinos  see  it,  the  future  of  their  country 
is  not  as  dark  as  that.  Even  though  we  belong 
to  a  continent  which  has  always  been  associated 
in  the  minds  of  Occidentals  with  mystery  and  in- 


160        SELF-GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

trigue,  we  see  a  brighter  prospect  for  our  people. 
In  the  first  place,  we  have  no  frontier  problems, 
which  are  the  most  fertile  source  of  international 
friction  and  difficulties  and  about  which  most  of 
the  wars  in  history  have  been  waged.  The  knot- 
tiest problems  before  the  Paris  Peace  Conference 
related  to  these  very  questions.  Asia  has  suf- 
fered from  the  same  malady.  Siam,  India  and 
China  have  their  frontiers  constantly  changed 
because  of  the  oscillating  interests  that  from  time 
to  time  predominate  on  either  side  of  their  bound- 
ary lines.  China  had  to  yield  Kowloon,  because 
the  security  of  Hongkong  as  an  English  posses- 
sion  demanded  it.  She  may  have  to  relinquish 
even  her  slight  hold  on  Manchuria,  which  has 
been  a  bone  of  contention  between  her  two  north- 
ern neighbors.  Japan's  proximity  to  Korea  fa- 
cilitated annexation  of  that  territory,  because 
Korea  in  the  hands  of  any  other  foreign  power 
would  be  a  menace  to  Japan.  Similarly,  the 
Liaotung  Peninsula  has  twice  changed  foreign 
masters  because  of  its  propinquity  to  Russia  and 
Japan.  Siam  has  had  to  submit  to  changes  in 
her  frontiers  many  times  and  has  suffered  each 
time  a  considerable  interference  in  her  domestic 
affairs. 

The  Philippines  are  geographically  more  fortu- 


THE  PROMISE  OF  THE  PHILIPPINES        161 

nately  situated  than  other  oriental  countries. 
Our  frontiers  are  determined  by  God  Himself 
through  the  tremendous  waterways  that  sepa- 
rate us  from  the  mainland  of  Asia.  Although  the 
Archipelago  is  composed  of  thousands  of  islands, 
the  possession  of  a  single  one  of  them  is  of  little 
use  unless  it  is  accompanied  by  the  possession  of 
the  whole  group.  America  found  -this  out  at  the 
Treaty  of  Paris  of  1898.  At  first  she  wanted 
Luzon  alone,  but  the  closeness  of  the  islands  to 
one  another  made  her  decide  to  take  over  all  or 
none.  The  problem  of  the  international  rela- 
tions of  the  Philippines  with  the  neighboring 
countries  would  also  be  simplified  by  the  geo- 
graphical position  of  the  Islands.  We  hear  of 
the  so-called  Japanese  menace.  In  fact,  dan- 
ger from  Japan  is  the  most  serious  argument 
advanced  against  the  independence  of  the  Philip- 
pines. Japan  is  pictured  as  a  land-hungry  na- 
tion, awaiting  only  the  withdrawal  of  American 
power  from  the  Philippines  for  the  opportunity 
to  take  over  the  Islands.  If  we  examine  the 
question  calmly,  we  shall  arrive  at  certain  facts 
which  wTill  help  us  to  consider  the  question  on 
its  own  merit.  In  the  first  place,  it  is  doubtful 
if  Japan  would  find  it  to  her  advantage  com- 
pletely to  colonize  the  Islands.  The  task  of  con- 


162        SELF-GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

verting  the  ten  million  Christian  Filipinos  into 
unwilling  Japanese  subjects  would  be  fraught 
with  much  greater  difficulty  than  that  encount- 
ered by  Japan  in  the  subjugation  of  other  peo- 
ples. Dr.  Nitobe,  the  foremost  Japanese  author- 
ity on  colonial  questions,  has  commented  on  the 
opposition  of  Filipinos  to  any  attempt  at  Jap- 
anese rule.  In  an  interview  published  in  the 
Philippines  Free  Press  on  May  6,  1916,  when  on 
a  tour  of  investigation,  he  said: 

"It  is  rash  to  conclude  that  because  we  are  of 
the  same  race  the  Filipinos  would  gladly  invite 
Japan  to  be  their  ruler. 

"  They  believe  that  they  are  superior  to  the 
Japanese.  Their  customs  and  manners  are  in- 
fluenced by  Christianity;  hence  the  unequalled 
progress  in  the  conception  of  their  treatment  of 
the  weaker  sex  in  comparison  with  that  prevail- 
ing in  other  parts  of  the  East.  The  Filipinos  are 
no  equals  of  the  Japanese  in  the  matter  of  poli- 
tics, national  defense,  and  industry,  but  posses- 
sing as  they  do  such  foreign  ideas  and  customs, 
though  ancient,  they  rather  look  down  upon  the 
Japanese.  It  remains  a  serious  question,  in 
these  circumstances,  if  they  will  condescend  to 
look  up  to  the  Japanese  as  their  superiors. 

"  They  have,  furthermore,  not  neglected  to  pay 


THE  PROMISE  OF  THE  PHILIPPINES        163 

close  attention  to  the  Japanese  administration  in 
Formosa  and  Korea.  In  the  Philippines,  the  na- 
tives enjoy  unlimited  liberty  of  speech;  they 
write  and  discuss  as  they  like,  and  no  official  in- 
tervention takes  place.  Viewed  from  this  re- 
spect alone,  would  the  Filipino  welcome  Japa- 
nese control,  when  he  realized  the  present 
conditions  of  Japan's  policy  in  Formosa  and 
Korea?" 

"  If  Japan  should  ever  attempt  to  take  the 
Philippines,  either  peacefully  or  by  force,"  says 
an  opponent  of  independence,  Carl  Crow,  in  his 
book  "  America  and  the  Philippines,"  "  she  would 
immediately  be  involved  in  a  fight  much  more 
stubborn  than  the  one  the  United  States  was 
compelled  to  put  down.  It  is  impossible  to  im- 
agine the  devoutly  Catholic  Filipinos  ever  sub- 
mitting even  to  a  semblance  of  rule  by  a  nation 
as  essentially  non-Christian  as  the  Japanese, 
and  it  is  equally  impossible  to  imagine  a  Chris- 
tian world  allowing  such  a  reverse  to  the  un- 
broken advance  of  Christianity." 

"  It  took  us  three  years  of  exasperating  guer- 
rilla warfare,"  says  another  American  writer, 
James  A.  Abbott,  "  before  opposition  to  our  pres- 
ence finally  disappeared.  And  how  did  we  suc- 
ceed at  last !  By  killing  off  as  many  of  the  pop- 


164        SELF-GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

ulation  as  possible?  Hardly;  if  that  had  been 
our  policy,  we  should  be  doing  it  still.  We  only 
succeeded  when  we  convinced  the  Filipinos  that 
we  were  not  there  to  exploit  them." 

No  great  national  gain  can  accrue  to  Japan 
through  the  subjugation  of  the  Philippines.  The 
complete  possession  of  the  Islands  would  scarcely 
compensate  Japan  for  the  probable  cost  of  such  a 
procedure.  It  is  still  an  open  question  whether 
the  Japanese  can  successfully  settle  in  the 
tropics.  The  exceptional  opportunities  of  Davao 
are  at  present  drawing  Japanese  to  that  place, 
but  even  there  Japanese  immigration  is  still  in 
an  experimental  stage.  It  is  entirely  uncertain 
whether  Japanese  laborers  can  thrive  in  the 
other  parts  of  the  Islands.  The  Japanese  col- 
onization of  Formosa,  which  lies  in  a  colder  belt 
than  the  Philippines,  is  still  far  from  being  a 
success.  Japan  has  had  the  Island  for  over 
twenty  years,  and  yet  there  are  now  barely  150,- 
000  Japanese  in  it  —  this  in  spite  of  the  fact  that 
the  Japanese  Government  gives  financial  help 
to  Japanese  subjects  emigrating  to  Formosa.  It 
is  said  that  in  1912  alone  the  Japanese  Govern- 
ment spent  over  $200,000  to  help  1,760  emigrants 
to  the  Island.1  Japan's  natural  place  for  expan- 

i  Abbott,  "Japanese  Expansion,"  p.  218. 


THE  PROMISE  OF  THE  PHILIPPINES        165 

sion  is  Korea  and  Manchuria.  In  Korea  alone 
there  are  over  200,000  Japanese,  whereas  ten 
years  ago  there  were  probably  less  than  50,000. 
Korea  has  only  a  concentration  of  173  persons  per 
square  mile  (as  against  Japan's  342  per  square 
mile),  so  that  there  is  still  room  for  many  Jap- 
anese. But  Manchuria  is  by  far  the  promised 
land  of  Japan's  surplus  population.  With  an 
area  of  376,800  square  miles,  rich  in  natural  re- 
sources, and  with  barely  a  population  of  10,- 
000,000,  she  can  feed  a  population  of  from  sixty 
to  one  hundred  million  people.  Under  the  com- 
plete political  control  of  Japan,  Manchuria  will 
undoubtedly  afford  untold  opportunities  for  Jap- 
anese excess  population. 

Dr.  lyenaga,  one  of  Japan's  most  active  pub- 
licity agents  in  the  United  States,  once  said  that 
Japan  would  not  accept  the  Philippines  even  as 
a  gift.  "  Unless  that  gift  should  be  accom- 
panied not  by  $20,000,000,  the  sum  you  gave  to 
Spain,  but  by  a  round  billion  of  dollars  to  be 
expended  for  the  education  and  development  of 
the  Filipinos,  Japan  would  surely  decline  your 
offer.  Japan  has  no  use  for  the  Philippines  for 
colonization  purposes  because  its  climate  is  as 
unfitted  to  us  for  that  purpose  as  it  is  for  you. 
Our  experience  in  Formosa  has  convinced  us  of 


166        SELF-GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

that."  1  Another  Japanese  writer  equally  well 
known  in  the  United  States,  Mr.  K.  Kawakaiui, 
while  not  going  as  far  as  Dr.  lyenaga,  emphati- 
cally says  that  Japan  has  no  desire  to  acquire  the 
Philippines. 

Many  Japanese  believe  that  with  Korea,  Man- 
churia and  Formosa,  Japan  is  sufficiently  occu- 
pied with  territorial  dominions,  and  that  in  the 
long  run  it  would  be  more  advantageous  for  her 
to  adopt  a  policy  of  righteousness  and  fair  deal- 
ing with  all  nations  than  to  seek  new  fields  of 
conquest.  An  assurance  to  that  effect  would 
greatly  strengthen  her  friendship  with  the  Allies 
and,  consequently,  her  own  credit  abroad.  It  is 
for  this  reason  that  Count  Okuma,  while  Premier 
of  Japan,  sent  the  following  interesting  telegram 
to  the  United  States  on  August  24,  1914 :  "  As 
Premier  of  Japan,  I  have  stated,  and  now  again 
state  to  the  people  of  America  and  the  world, 
that  Japan  has  no  ulterior  motive,  no  desire  to 
secure  more  territory,  no  thought  of  depriving 
China  or  other  people  of  anything  they  now  pos- 
sess." 

Granting,  then  —  at  least  for  the  sake  of  ar- 
gument —  that  Japan  will  not  endeavor  to  col- 
onize the  Philippines,  what  are  the  principles 

i  Quoted  in  the  Far  Eastern  Review,  September,  1916,  p.  128. 


THE  PROMISE  OF  THE  PHILIPPINES        167 

upon  which  sound  and  friendly  Filipino-Japa- 
nese relations  can  be  built?  Japan  will  surely 
find  the  Philippine  Republic  a  friendly  neighbor 
and  sister.  The  Filipinos  themselves  have  noth- 
ing but  admiration  and  good  wishes  for  an 
Asiatic  people  who,  by  their  own  strength,  have 
won  the  recognition  of  a  hitherto  doubting  world 
and  have  carved  their  proud  name  in  the  council- 
chamber  of  the  great  nations.  The  Philippines 
are  -asking  only  for  an  opportunity  for  free  and 
unhampered  development  of  their  people  and 
natural  resources,  so  that  they  can,  in  their  hum- 
ble way,  contribute  to  the  civilization  and  prog- 
ress of  mankind.  This  desire  cannot  be  of  any 
possible  damage  to  Japan.  On  the  contrary, 
what  Japan  desires  of  her  neighbors  is  the  least 
possible  interference  by  western  nations.  She 
told  that  to  China  many  times,  and  that  wras  the 
main  reason  she  gave  for  annexing  Korea. 

Is  it  not,  therefore,  clear  that  both  the  Jap- 
anese and  Filipino  nations  can  work  in  harmony 
toward  the  furtherance  of  their  common  inter- 
ests? 

The  problem  of  government  in  the  Philippines 
is  relatively  much  simpler  than  that  in  any  other 
tropical  country  of  Asia.  The  Filipino  people 
are  already  a  unified  mass,  loyal  to  a  centralized 


168        SELF-GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

government.  They  have  no  institutions  of  roy- 
alty, nobility  or  blood  distinctions,  which  make 
republican  institutions  for  the  time  being  im- 
possible in  Java,  the  Malay  States  and  the  pro- 
tectorate of  Indo-China.  Even  the  strongest  op- 
ponents of  our  independence  concede  us  that  ad- 
vantage. "  Contrast  the  Filipinos  with  other 
Malays  and  the  Oriental  peoples,"  says  Mr.  Taft, 
"  and  I  ask  you  to  name  a  people  offering  more 
opportunities  for  development  along  the  lines 
which  American  ideals  require  than  the  people 
of  these  islands.  To  begin  with,  they  are  a  Chris- 
tian people  and  they  have  been  so  for  three  hun- 
dred years.  They  have  no  caste  or  arbitrary 
customs  which  prevent  their  development  along 
the  lines  of  Christian  civilization.  They  differ 
utterly  in  these  respects  from  the  East  Indians, 
from  the  Malays  of  Java  and  the  Malays  of  the 
Straits  Settlements,  and  thus  make  our  prob- 
lem different  from  and  vastly  easier  than  that  of 
England  and  Holland." 

No  better  material  can  be  found  in  Asia  for 
the  development  of  a  democratic  state  than  the 
Philippines.  The  twenty  years  of  American  oc- 
cupation have  accomplished  wonders  in  the  de- 
velopment of  this  potential  democracy  into  a 
practical  representative  government.  Accord- 


'\ 


Photograph  by  Bureau  of  Euucutiuu,  Manila,  P.  I. 

A  VIEW  FROM  ONE  OF  THE  16  PROVINCIAL  TRADE  SCHOOLS 


THE  MACHINE   SHOP,   SCHOOL  OF  ARTS  AND  TRADES,  MANILA 

The  vocational  training  branch  of  the  Philippine  educational  system  is  declared 
to  be  the  most  advanced  in  the  world 


-  o 


ing  to  the  official  census  estimate  of  1918  cabled 
to  the  War  Department  by  Acting  Governor 
Yeater,  over  seventy  per  cent  of  the  population 
over  ten  years  of  age  are  literate.  This  is  higher 
than  in  any  country  in  South  America,  cer- 
tainly above  the  literacy  of  the  new  states  recog- 
nized in  Europe  and  even  far  ahead  of  that  of 
Greece,  Portugal,  Roumania  and  Serbia.  Al- 
though suffrage  is  limited  to  male  persons  who 
are  literates  or  who  have  property  to  the  value 
of  500  pesos,  there  are  already,  according  to  the 
same  census  estimate,  over  1,750,000  voters  in  the 
Islands. 

In  spirit  the  Philippines  are  today  the  most 
democratic  country  of  the  Far  East.  It  is  for 
this  reason  that  upon  the  outbreak  of  the  Euro- 
pean War,  even  before  the  entry  of  the  United 
States,  the  Filipinos  were  already  in  spirit  with 
the  Allies,  for  they  instinctively  felt  that  democ- 
racy was  on  the  side  of  the  Allies,  while  autoc- 
racy was  with  the  Central  Powers.  They  do  not, 
like  the  Japanese,  offer  blind  obedience  to  a  Mi- 
kado, a  political  attitude  which,  despite  its  rec- 
ognized advantages,  is  an  enduring  obstacle  to 
the  establishment  of  democracy  in  Japan.  "  The 
Emperor  of  Japan,"  says  a  distinguished  Japa- 
nese writer,  G.  E.  Uyehara,  "  is  the  center  of  the 


170       SELF-GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

State  as  well  as  the  State  itself.  He  is  to  the 
Japanese  mind  a  Supreme  Being  in  the  Cosmos 
of  Japan,  as  God  is  in  the  Universe  to  the  pan- 
theistic philosopher.  From  him  everything  ema- 
nates ;  in  him  everything  subsists ;  there  is  noth- 
ing on  the  soil  of  Japan  existent  independent  of 
him.  He  is  the  sole  owner  of  the  Empire,  the 
author  of  law,  justice,  privilege,  and  honor,  and 
the  symbol  of  the  unity  of  the  Japanese  nation." 
The  same  author  confesses  that  "  this  mental 
habit  of  the  people  is  a  great  obstacle  to  the 
healthy  development  of  representative  govern- 
ment. The  masses  of  Japan  still  maintain  a  rev- 
erential attitude  towards  the  government  and 
look  upon  the  government  officials  as  superiors ; 
they  still  cannot  quite  realize  that  the  govern- 
ment is  by  the  people." 

Contrast  the  foregoing  attitude  with  the  po- 
litical philosophy  the  Filipino  leaders  of  the 
past  have  endeavored  to  instill  in  the  minds  of 
the  people  and  the  unstinted  adherence  of  the 
people  to  the  cause  of  democracy.  Apolinario 
Mabini,  the  greatest  political  writer  the  Fili- 
pinos have  produced,  drove  home  to  the  people 
the  following  creed  of  democracy :  "  Thou  shalt 
not  recognize  in  the  country  the  authority  of  any 
person  who  has  not  been  elected  by  thee  and  by 


THE  PROMISE  OF  THE  PHILIPPINES        171 

thy  countrymen;  for  authority  emanates  from 
God,  and  as  God  speaks  in  the  conscience  of 
every  man,  the  person  designated  and  proclaimed 
by  the  conscience  of  a  whole  people  is  the  only 
one  who  can  use  true  authority."  The  national 
Constitution  adopted  by  the  Filipino  represen- 
tatives at  Malolos  solemnly  declares  that  "  sov- 
ereignty resides  exclusively  in  the  people."  Add 
to  this  the  schooling  in  democracy  the  Filipino 
people  have  had  for  twenty  years  under  American 
guidance,  and  we  may  realize  the  advantage  the 
Philippines  have  over  their  Oriental  sisters  in 
the  establishment  and  maintenance  of  democratic 
institutions. 

The  present  government  of  the  Philippines,  in 
spite  of  its  inherent  faults,  due  to  the  fact  that 
it  was  framed  by  an  alien  Congress,  has  cer- 
tainly made  it  possible  to  bring  to  the  fore  men 
of  undoubted  popularity  to  direct  the  affairs  of 
the  nation.  Although  not  elected  at  large,  but 
simply  by  their  districts,  and  later  elevated  to 
their  posts  by  representative  organs  of  the  peo- 
ple, the  three  foremost  leaders  of  the  party  in 
power  —  the  Speaker,  Sergio  Osmena,  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  Senate,  Manuel  L.  Quezon,  and  the 
Secretary  of  the  Interior,  Rafael  Palma  —  are 
recognized  by  all  Filipinos  as  the  ablest  men  in 


172        SELF-GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

the  party.  One  of  the  requisites,  the  most  fun- 
damental one,  of  a  true  democracy  is  therefore 
fulfilled  in  the  Philippines:  that  the  leaders  of 
the  party  in  power  who  enjoy  the  greatest  popu- 
lar support  are  given  the  direction  of  govern- 
mental affairs. 

But  there  is  another  fundamental  reason  why 
democracy  has  a  splendid  chance  of  developing 
in  the  Philippines.  According  to  the  official 
census  estimate  of  1918,  there  are  a  million  and 
a  half  farms  in  the  Islands,  and  ninety-six  per 
cent  of  these  farms  are  owned  by  Filipinos.  In 
other  words,  out  of  the  ten  million  Christian 
Filipinos,  eight  million  of  them  at  least  live  on 
their  own  farms,  with  houses  of  their  own,  in- 
dependent of  any  absentee  landlord  or  foreign 
master.  Ninety-one  per  cent  of  the  urban  prop- 
erty consisting  of  houses  and  lands  is  owned  by 
the  natives  of  the  Philippines,  and  only  nine  per 
cent  is  in  the  hands  of  foreigners.  A  people  with 
property  so  evenly  divided,  with  practically  ev- 
erybody owning  a  piece  of  land  which  he  is  will- 
ing to  defend  with  his  own  life  against  lawless 
intruders,  has  certainly  a  chance  to  maintain 
stable  political  institutions. 

A  survey  of  the  promise  of  the  Philippines 
would  not  be  complete  without  saying  something 


THE  PROMISE  OF  THE  PHILIPPINES        173 

of  the  Filipino  woman.  The  position  of  the 
Filipino  woman  in  the  Orient  is  unique.  "  Mid- 
way geographically  between  the  kimono  maiden 
of  Japan  and  the  veiled  lady  of  India,"  says  an 
American  writer,1  "  and  alongside  of  the  '  lily- 
footed  '  dame  of  China  is  the  woman  of  the 
Philippines,  a  woman  unique  in  the  Orient,  a 
woman  in  whose  development  there  has  been 
neither  seclusion,  nor  oppression,  nor  servitude." 
Even  before  the  coming  of  the  Spaniards  four 
centuries  ago,  the  Filipino  woman  held  a  rela- 
tively high  position.  The  Spanish  discoverers 
found  the  Filipino  woman  sharing  equally  with 
her  husband  the  rights  and  duties  of  the  home, 
and  in  case  of  his  death  inheriting  half  of  their 
joint  gains.  Sometimes  the  position  of  the  chief 
official  of  a  town,  upon  his  death,  fell  to  the 
widow  when  there  was  no  male  heir.  Christian 
ideals  strengthened  the  position  of  the  Filipino 
woman  and  gave  her  even  greater  freedom  and 
power.  Today  she  is  the  mistress  of  the  home 
and  the  safe  keeper  of  the  family  funds. 
Through  her  hold  in  the  home  she  wields  a  strong 
influence  in  the  outside  world.  In  business  she 
is  the  equal,  if  not  the  superior,  of  her  mate ;  and 
politically,  though  she  does  not  enjoy  popular 

i  Emma  Sarepta  Yule,  in  the  Philippines  Monthly,  1915. 


174        SELF-GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

suffrage,  she  has  proved,  to  quote  the  American 
writer  again,  "  in  more  than  one  case,  indeed  in 
very  many,  that  she  is  an  active  campaigner  of 
no  mean  order." 

The  education  of  the  Filipino  woman  has 
broadened  her  scope  in  life  and  is  making  her 
more  interested  in  the  civic  activities  of  the 
Philippines.  In  1917  there  were  enrolled  in 
the  primary  and  intermediate  grades  of  the  pub- 
lic schools  234,905  girls.  Filipino  women  are 
now  occupying  positions  in  the  Bureau  of  Edu- 
cation and  the  University  of  the  Philippine^ 
While  there  is  no  strong  agitation  for  suffrage, 
it  ie  doubtful  whether,  when  they  demand  it, 
their  brothers  will  deny  it  to  them.  There  have 
been  established  over  fifty  women's  clubs  in  the 
Philippines,  engaged  in  social  settlement  work, 
the  improvement  of  health  conditions,  and  the 
prevention  of  infant  mortality.  Writers  on  the 
Philippines  and  observers  of  Philippine  condi- 
tions have  time  and  again  testified  to  the  su- 
periority of  women  in  the  Philippines,  and  to 
the  tremendous  influence  that  they  are  bearing, 
and  will  continue  to  bear,  upon  the  country  and 
the  people.  "  Possibly  ...  on  these  lovely  isles 
where  the  lotos  blooms  and  the  cocoanut  lifts 
high  its  green-crowned  head  there  may  evolve 


THE  PROMISE  OF  THE  PHILIPPINES        175 

the  Altruria  of  the  vision  of  the  suffragette,  a 
land  of  perfect  sex  equality  with  chivalry  tipping 
the  scale  in  favor  of  lovely  woman."  That  was 
the  promise  pictured  by  the  American  writer  who 
has  paid  such  a  pleasing  tribute  to  the  Filipino 
women. 

The  agricultural  and  commercial  possibilities 
of  the  Islands  are  almost  limitless.  Of  the  total 
area  of  120,000  square  miles  of  rich  tropical  land 
only  14,000  square  miles  have  been  touched  by  the 
plow.  The  100,000  square  miles  remain  in  its 
primeval  state  just  awaiting  the  industry  of  man 
to  give  up  its  mineral  wealth  or  to  produce  boun- 
tiful crops  of  sugar,  hemp,  cocoanuts,  rubber,  and 
all  sorts  of  tropical  raw  materials.  The  Philip- 
pines can  hold  from  sixty  to  seventy  million  peo- 
ple. The  valley  of  Cotabato  alone  can  produce 
enough  rice  to  feed  the  present  population  of  the 
Islands.  The  entire  Archipelago,  through  scien- 
tific cultivation,  the  development  of  its  natural 
resources,  the  harnessing  of  its  wonderful  water 
powers  and  the  development  of  its  commerce, 
can  be  converted  into  a  veritable  paradise.  That 
the  Philippines  have  every  natural  advantage 
for  economic  independence  is  amply  substan- 
tiated. 

Is  it  any  wonder,  therefore,  that  the  Filipino 


176        SELF-GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

people  should  have  such  a  splendid  optimism  as 
regards  their  country's  future?  They  are  con- 
vinced that  in  a  modest  way  they  have  a  mani- 
fest destiny  to  fulfil.  This  destiny  cannot  be 
realized  unless  they  are  independent  of  all  for- 
eign control,  free  to  develop  their  country  and 
their  genius  in  their  own  way.  It  must  be  con- 
fessed that  the  domestic  autonomy  which  they 
now  enjoy  fails  to  satisfy  them  completely.  It 
is  simply  a  privilege  conceded  them,  the  United 
States  still  continuing  to  be  the  absolute  arbiter 
of  their  destiny.  The  Filipino  people  have  no 
voice  in  their  foreign  affairs,  and  thus  they 
have  to  limit  their  activities  to  purely  local  mat- 
ters and  cannot  participate  in  those  world  en- 
terprises which  are,  in  these  days  of  international 
intercourse  and  communication,  the  greatest  fac- 
tors in  the  growth  and  progress  of  nations. 
Even  in  the  final  disposition  and  development 
of  their  natural  resources,  such  as  timber,  min- 
ing concessions,  and  public  lands,  as  well  as  in 
other  important  matters,  they  must  first  obtain 
sanction  of  the  President  of  the  United  States. 
The  American  flag  still  symbolizes  to  them  the 
sovereignty  of  a  foreign  people,  no  matter  how 
lightly  or  generously  exercised  that  sovereignty 
may  be.  The  United  States  Congress  can  take 


THE  PROMISE  OF  THE  PHILIPPINES        177 

away  any  rights  or  privileges  that  have  been 
granted  to  them.  Their  Bill  of  Rights  can  be 
taken  away  at  any  moment.  The  Supreme  Court 
has  held  that  the  Filipino  people  enjoy  only  such 
civil  and  political  rights  as  the  American  Con- 
gress is  willing  to  give  them. 

The  preamble  to  the  Jones  Law  simply  prom- 
ised the  Philippines  their  independence  as  soon 
as  a  stable  government  could  be  established 
therein.  It  did  not  specify  the  relationship 
that  would  exist  between  an  independent  Philip- 
pines and  the  United  States,  evidently  leaving 
that  matter  for  future  negotiations.  It  is  for 
this  purpose  of  negotiating  the  final  terms  of 
independence  that  the  Philippine  Congress  ap- 
pointed a  permanent  Commission  of  Independ- 
ence, which  sent  a  special  Philippine  Mission  to 
the  United  States.  The  terms  and  conditions  of 
Philippine  independence  and  the  future  relation- 
ship between  the  two  countries  should  now  be 
taken  up  by  their  respective  representatives. 
Evasion  of  the  subject  or  unnecessary  delay  may 
be  highly  detrimental  to  both  parties.  It  has 
been  the  policy  of  evasion,  the  lack  of  definite 
understanding,  which  caused  the  past  difficulties 
between  the  two  peoples. 

The  Filipino  people  are  too  grateful  for  the 


178        SELF-GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

benefits  received  from  the  United  States  not  to 
concede  to  the  American  nation  whatever  priv- 
ileges or  conditions  she  may  impose,  consistent 
with  their  welfare.  "  This  gratitude,"  says  the 
Philippine  Congress,  "  will  be  the  first  funda- 
mental fact  in  the  future  relations  between  the 
United  States  and  the  Philippine  Islands."  A 
final  understanding  with  the  American  people  is 
imperative,  if  for  no  other  reason  than  to  ac- 
quaint the  Filipino  people  with  the  responsi- 
bilities they  must  face  after  their  separation 
from  the  United  States.  The  Jones  Law  pro- 
vided only  for  the  organization  of  the  internal 
government  as  a  prerequisite  to  the  granting  of 
independence.  Our  internal  government  is  al- 
ready organized  on  a  stable  basis.  The  next 
and  logical  step  is  the  negotiation  for  independ- 
ence. 

The  ten  million  Filipinos  are  not  such  a  very 
small  people.  Their  desire  for  freedom  is  no 
mere  passing  whim.  It  was  written  in  blood 
during  those  dark  days  of  1896-1898,  when  they 
overthrew  the  tyrannous  yoke  of  Spain.  It  was 
rebaptized  in  those  gloomy  years  of  1899-1902 
when,  although  convinced  that  they  would  be  de- 
feated in  the  end,  they  gave  up  thousands  of 
lives  to  show  the  American  people  that  they 


THE  PROMISE  OF  THE  PHILIPPINES        179 

would  not  lightly  exchange  political  masters  and 
that  they  were  willing  to  die  if  need  be  for  the 
independence  of  their  country.  Secluded  as 
they  are  from  Asia,  protected  by  tremendous 
waterways,  with  no  frontier  problems  or  large 
vested  foreign  interests,  save  those  of  the  United 
States,  to  vex  them,  united  by  a  strong  tie  of  na- 
tionality, inspired  by  democratic  ideals,  with  un- 
told economic  possibilities  at  their  command, 
they  feel  that  they  have  a  good  chance  to  work 
out  their  own  destiny.  Weaker  and  smaller  na- 
tions, beset  by  graver  problems,  have  taken  a 
more  hazardous  chance  at  freedom. 

In  the  opinion  of  many  observers,  the  Filipino 
people  have  progressed  much  more  remarkably 
than  the  Japanese  in  a  similar  space  of  time. 
This  progress  has  been  made,  inspired  by  the 
promises  of  the  United  States  that  they  would  in 
due  time  enjoy  the  blessings  of  complete  free- 
dom. Nations,  like  individuals,  accomplish 
more  when  they  encounter  difficulties  and  look 
ahead  to  a  sublime  ideal  for  their  guide.  Un- 
der a  flag  of  their  own,  as  a  member  of  the  con- 
cert of  free  nations,  confronted  by  greater  prob- 
lems and  even  much  greater  difficulties  —  who 
can  foretell  what  further  strides  the  Filipino 
people  may  not  make  and  what  greater  surprises 


180        SELF-GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

they  may  not  give  the  expectant  world?  Sixty 
years  ago  Commodore  Perry  opened  to  the  world 
an  Oriental  country  ignorant  of  the  ways  of  civ- 
ilization, living  in  a  mist  of  medievalism,  and  in 
that  brief  space  of  time  they  have  forged  ahead, 
put  on  the  garb  of  the  Occident,  bridged  the 
chasm  of  centuries  which  separated  them  from 
the  modern  world  and  secured  for  themselves  a 
place  among  the  great  powers  of  the  earth.  The 
Philippines,  though  a  smaller  country,  have  been 
under  the  influence  of  Christianity  for  three 
hundred  years  and  have  had  the  tutorship  of 
the  greatest  and  most  enlightened  republic  for 
twenty  years.  Who  can  foretell  the  fate  that  the 
Supreme  Arbiter  of  the  destiny  of  nations  has 
reserved  for  them? 


APPENDIX  A 

THE  PREAMBLE  TO  THE  JONES  LAW 
(Approved  August  29,  1916.) 

An  Act  to  declare  the  purpose  of  the  people  of  the 
United  States  as  to  the  future  political  status  of  the 
people  of  the  Philippine  Islands,  and  to  provide  a  more 
autonomous  government  for  those  islands. 

WHEREAS,  it  was  never  the  intention  of  the  people  of 
the  United  States  in  the  ineipiency  of  the  War  with 
Spain  to  make  it  a  war  of  conquest  or  for  territorial 
aggrandizement;  and 

WHEREAS,  it  is,  as  it  has  always  been,  the  purpose  of 
the  people  of  the  United  States  to  withdraw  their 
sovereignty  over  the  Philippine  Islands  and  to  recog- 
nize their  independence  as  soon  as  a  stable  govern- 
ment can  be  established  therein;  and 

WHEREAS,  for  the  speedy  accomplishment  of  such 
purpose  it  is  desirable  to  place  in  the  hands  of  the 
people  of  the  Philippines  as  large  a  control  of  their 
domestic  affairs  as  can  be  given  them  without,  in  the 
meantime,  impairing  the  exercise  of  the  rights  of 
sovereignty  by  the  people  of  the  United  States,  in 
order  that,  by  the  use  and  exercise  of  popular  fran- 
chise and  governmental  powers,  they  may  be  the  bet- 
ter prepared  to  fully  assume  the  responsibilities  and 
enjoy  all  the  privileges  of  complete  independence: 
Therefore  .  .  . 

181 


APPENDIX  B 

RESOLUTION  OF  THE  SENATE  AND  HOUSE 
OF  REPRESENTATIVES  OF  THE  PHILIP- 
PINES, IN  JOINT  SESSION  ASSEMBLED, 
ADOPTING  A  DECLARATION  OF  PUR- 
POSES FOR  THE  GUIDANCE  OF  THE  COM- 
MISSION OF  INDEPENDENCE 

WHEREAS  the  Commission  of  Independence  has  in- 
formed the  Philippine  Legislature  that  it  is  ready  to 
receive  from  it  instructions  or  declarations  for  its 
future  guidance,  in  order  to  insure  the  best  possible 
performance  of  the  duties  of  the  Commission:  NOW 

THEREFORE, 

BE  IT  RESOLVED  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives of  the  Philippines,  in  joint  session  assembled 
in  the  Marble  Hall  of  the  Ayuntamiento,  that  the  fol- 
lowing Declaration  of  Purposes  be,  and  the  same 
hereby  is,  adopted,  to  wit: 

DECLARATION  OF  PURPOSES:  The  Philippine  ques- 
tion has  reached  such  a  stage  that  a  full  and  final  ex- 
change of  views  between  the  United  States  of  America 
and  the  Philippine  Islands  has  become  necessary.  We 
need  not  repeat  the  declarations  respecting  the  na- 
tional aspirations  of  the  Filipino  people.  Such  dec- 
larations have  been  made  from  time  to  time  in  the  most 
frank  and  solemn  manner  by  the  constitutional  repre- 
sentatives of  the  Philippine  nation  and  are  a  matter 

183 


184       SELF-GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

of  permanent  record  in  public  documents  covering 
more  than  a  decade  of  persistent  efforts  particularly 
during  the  last  three  years.  America,  on  her  part, 
has  been  sufficiently  explicit  in  her  purposes  from 
the  beginning  of  her  occupation  of  the  Philippines.  It 
is  true  that  the  Treaty  of  Paris  whereby  the  sover- 
eignty formerly  exercised  by  Spain  passed  to  the 
United  States,  was  negotiated  and  concluded  without 
intervention  or  consent  of  the  Filipinos,  and  that 
the  United  States  of  America  did  not  occupy  the 
Philippine  Archipelago  upon  a  previous  categorical 
declaration  like  that  formulated  and  made  public 
before  the  occupation  of  Cuba.  But,  aside  from  cer- 
tain differences  in  the  details  of  both  occupations 
which,  not  having  been  foreseen  upon  the  Declaration 
of  War  between  the  United  States  and  Spain,  subse- 
quently gave  rise  to  debate  and  differences  of  opin- 
ion regarding  procedure,  it  is  an  incontrovertible  fact 
that  the  definite  purpose  of  the  United  States  in  both 
cases  was  the  same :  the  disinterested  liberation  of  the 
people  subjugated  by  Spain.  The  American  flag  that 
waved  over  Cuba  for  lofty  reasons  of  humanity  and 
justice  scrupulously  observed  and  respected  after  the 
victory,  is  the  same  flag  which,  when  the  war  spread 
to  this  part  of  the  globe,  extended  its  protecting  folds 
over  another  people  anxious  for  justice  and  liberty. 
And  that  American  flag  could  not  stand  for  emancipa- 
tion in  Cuba,  and,  at  the  same  time,  for  forcible  sub- 
jugation in  the  Philippines.  The  difference,  if  such 
ever  existed,  consisted  only  in  matters  of  detail,  not 
in  the  affirmation  and  observance  of  the  cardinal  prin- 


APPENDICES  185 

ciples.  In  one  case,  owing  to  the  proximity  of  Cuba 
to  the  American  shores,  the  terms  of  the  problem  were 
known  at  the  outset  and  provisions  had  been  made  for 
its  solution.  In  the  other,  the  lack  of  adequate  in- 
formation in  the  United  States  as  to  the  true  con- 
ditions of  the  Philippine  problem,  aggravated  by  long 
distance,  momentarily  obscured  the  question  and  nat- 
urally gave  rise  to  a  less  determined  and  speedy  pro- 
cedure. Thus,  while  Cuba  became  free  and  inde- 
pendent after  scarcely  four  years  of  American  occupa- 
tion, the  Philippines,  which  professed  the  same  ideals 
as  their  sister  of  the  Antilles,  continue  in  a  state  of 
dependency  after  more  than  twenty  years  of  such  oc- 
cupation. 

In  submitting  the  Philippine  question  to  the  Govern- 
ment and  People  of  the  United  States,  the  Commission 
of  Independence  will  find  it  unnecessary  to  refer  to 
the  natural  acerbity  of  the  situation,  or  to  the  anxiety 
of  our  people  which  two  decades  of  occupation  have 
only  served  to  accentuate.  The  steadfastness  of  our 
position  is  not  due  to  mere  sentiment,  but  to  the  justice 
of  our  cause,  sanctified  by  the  laws  of  God  and  Na- 
ture not  only,  but  admitted  in  the  promises  solemnly 
made  by  the  United  States  and  accepted  by  the  Philip- 
pines. Although  attention  should  respectfully  be  in- 
vited to  the  fact  that  the  Filipino  people  have  never 
renounced  their  independence,  not  even  in  the  mo- 
ments of  the  greatest  adversity  brought  about  by  the 
enforced  or  voluntary  submission  of  their  own  lead- 
ers, yet  the  Commission  of  Independence  in  dwelling 
upon  the  promises  made,  will  unreservedly  and  with 


136        SELF-GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

the  deepest  gratitude  recognize  that  they  were  made 
freely  and  generously  to  a  small  and  powerless  peo- 
ple after  they  had  suffered  defeat  in  the  field  of  bat- 
tle. The  deliberate  attitude  of  our  country  in  re- 
posing confidence  in  those  promises  and  laboring  peace- 
fully in  pursuance  thereof,  must  also  be  asserted. 
Thus,  after  the  rupture  of  relations  occasioned  by 
three  years  of  war  during  which  the  right  of  the  Fili- 
pinos to  their  independence  was  disputed,  unsuccess- 
fully so  far  as  they  were  concerned,  violence  gave  way 
to  harmony,  and  hostility  to  cooperation ;  and  thanks 
to  the  growing  influence  of  the  new  conditions  of 
peace,  Americans  and  Filipinos,  who  a  short  time  ago 
fought  each  other  and  stained  the  Philippine  soil  with 
blood,  undertook  jointly,  on  the  basis  of  a  friendly  un- 
derstanding, a  magnificent  labor  which  has  been  car- 
ried on  with  the  orderly  progress  of  liberty  and  self- 
government. 

The  Commission  must  not  lose  sight  of  the  fact  that 
the  altruistic  ideals  and  the  wise  and  efficient  aid  of 
America  in  peace  justly  won  for  her  our  confidence  and 
gratitude.  Far  from  allowing  a  policy  of  selfish  ex- 
ploitation to  direct  the  destinies  of  these  Islands, 
America  proclaimed  and  insisted  that  the  interest  and 
welfare  of  the  Philippines  were  to  be  considered  a 
sacred  trust  confided  to  the  people  of  the  United 
States.  Instead  of  the  national  spirit  being  stifled,  it 
was  announced  from  the  outset  that  the  natural  de- 
velopment of  self-government  would  be  promoted. 
The  total  surrender  of  the  government  of  the  munici- 
palities to  popular  control,  the  constant  increase  in  the 


APPENDICES  187 

measure  of  self-government  in  the  administration  of 
the  provinces,  and  the  growing  participation  of  the 
people  in  the  management  of  the  central  government 
and  of  national  affairs ;  the  plan  of  a  general  free  ele- 
mentary education  conceived  from  the  start ;  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  national  assembly,  with  the  subsequent 
addition  of  an  elective  Senate,  and,  finally,  the  ac- 
ceptance of  the  offers  of  adhesion  and  aid  of  the 
Philippines  to  the  cause  of  America  in  the  recent 
war,  based  on  the  principles  of  justice  and  self-gov- 
ernment, liberty  and  security  for  small  nations,  as 
proclaimed  by  the  Government  of  the  United  States, 
are  fundamental  facts  of  the  policy  of  America  in 
these  Islands  which  have  appealed  to  the  heart  and 
brightened  the  hopes  of  the  Filipino  people.  Presi- 
dent Roosevelt,  proudly  contemplating,  rather  than 
the  initial  results  of  the  work,  the  loftiness  and  purity 
of  the  principles  enunciated,  said  with  good  reason 
that  "no  great  civilized  power  has  ever  handled  with 
such  wisdom  and  disinterestedness  the  affairs  of  a 
people  committed  by  the  accident  of  war  to  its  hands. ' ' 
"  Save  only  our  attitude  towards  Cuba,"  Mr.  Roose- 
velt continued, ' '  I  question  whether  there  is  a  brighter 
page  in  the  annals  of  international  dealing  between 
the  strong  and  the  weak  than  the  page  which  tells  of 
our  doings  in  the  Philippines  "  (January  27,  1908), 
and  subsequently  he  proclaimed,  in  a  message  to  Con- 
gress, that ' '  the  Filipino  people,  through  their  officials, 
are  therefore  making  real  steps  in  the  direction  of 
self-government  ' '  and  that  he  hoped  and  trusted  that 
these  steps  would  mark  "  the  beginning  of  a  course 


188        SELF-GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

which  will  continue  till  the  Filipinos  become  fit  to  de- 
cide for  themselves  whether  they  desire  to  be  an  in- 
dependent nation."  (December  8,  1908.)  In  the 
opinion  of  William  H.  Taft,  who  implanted  our  civil 
regime,  the  national  policy  with  regard  to  the  Philip- 
pines contemplated  a  gradual  and  constant  extension 
of  popular  control,  and,  making  a  logical  deduction, 
he  said  "  when  the  Filipino  people,  as  a  whole,  show 
themselves  reasonably  fit  to  conduct  a  popular  self- 
government,  maintaining  law  and  order  and  offering 
equal  protection  of  the  laws  and  civil  rights  to  rich 
and  poor,  and  desire  complete  independence  of  the 
United  States,  they  shall  be  given  it."  (January  23, 
1908.)  These*  statements  of  Mr.  Taft,  made  while  he 
was  Secretary  of  War,  were  confirmed  by  him  when, 
as  President  of  the  United  States,  he  said  in  a  mes- 
sage to  Congress:  "  We  should  endeavor  to  secure 
for  the  Filipinos  economic  independence  and  to.  fit 
them  for  complete  self-government,  with  the  power 
to  decide  eventually,  according  to  their  own  largest 
good,  whether  such  self-government  shall  be  accom- 
panied by  independence."  (December  6, 1912.) 

On  March  4,  1913,  there  was  a  change  in  the  admin- 
istration of  the  United  States  and  the  power  passed 
from  the  Republicans  to  the  Democrats.  Seven 
months  later,  Francis  Burton  Harrison,  the  new  Gov- 
ernor General,  communicated  to  the  Filipino  people 
the  following  message  from  President  Wilson :  ' '  We 
regard  ourselves  as  trustees  acting  not  for  the  advan- 
tage of  the  United  States,  but  for  the  benefit  of  the 
people  of  the  Philippine  Islands.  Every  step  we  take 


APPENDICES  189 

will  be  taken  with  a  view  to  the  ultimate  independence 
of  the  islands  and  as  a  preparation  for  that  inde- 
pendence. And  we  hope  to  move  toward  that  end  as 
rapidly  as  the  safety  and  the  permanent  interests  of 
the  islands  will  permit.  After  each  step  taken,  experi- 
ence will  guide  us  to  the  next  "  (October  6,  1913). 
On  the  occasion  of  the  change  in  the  Philippine  Com- 
mission, which  acted  as  the  upper  house  of  the  legisla- 
ture, the  Filipinos  were  given  an  effective  majority  in 
both  houses,  and  in  accordance  with  the  new  policy 
that  in  the  administration  of  affairs  in  the  Philip- 
pines America  desired  not  her  own  counsel,  but  the 
counsel  of  the  Filipinos,  the  Filipinization  of  the  serv- 
ice was  accelerated  and  other  administrative  measures 
were  adopted  to  extend  the  popular  control  in  the  gov- 
ernment. Finally,  maintaining  all  the  progress  made 
and  emphasizing  the  steps  toward  independence, 
frankly  announced  by  President  Wilson,  the  Congress 
of  the  United  States  approved  the  new  organic  law 
for  the  Philippines  of  August  29, 1916,  which  formally 
promises  the  Filipinos  their  independence  and  grants 
them  a  more  autonomous  government.  Thus  the 
burden  of  the  international  responsibilities  assumed 
by  the  United  States  by  virtue  of  the  Treaty  of  Paris 
passed  in  effect  to  the  hands  of  the  Filipino  people, 
and  a  pact  was  virtually  consummated  between  Amer- 
ica and  the  Philippines,  analogous  to  that  established 
between  America  and  Cuba  by  the  passage  of  the 
Teller  resolution  which  led  to  the  war  between  America 
and  Spain  and  publicly  denned  America's  purpose  at 
that  time. 


190        SELF-GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

During  this  period  of  confident  waiting,  when  our 
attitude  was  one  of  mere  cooperation  as  well  as  when 
we  assumed  the  new  powers  conferred  by  the  Jones 
Law,  the  Commission  of  Independence  will  find, 
throughout  the  entire  record  of  over  twenty  years, 
positive  facts  demonstrating  our  full  capacity  for  na- 
tional independence  and  self-government.  In  the 
plan  of  a  general  free  education  and  of  sanitary  im- 
provements; in  the  vast  public  works  program  with 
respect  to  roads  and  bridges,  public  buildings,  and 
irrigation  systems;  in  the  fostering  of  agriculture, 
industry,  and  commerce,  including  the  provision  of 
banking  facilities,  port  improvements,  and  an  ade- 
quate system  of  transportation  by  land  and  sea;  in 
the  establishment  of  an  efficient  civil  service  and  an 
independent  judiciary;  in  the  constant  development 
of  self-government  in  the  local  organizations  and  the 
central  government,  and  in  the  adoption  of  measures 
for  the  free  and  orderly  exercise  of  popular  suffrage; 
in  the  exercise,  in  fine,  of  all  the  political  powers 
entrusted  to  us,  no  effort  has  been  spared  to  promote 
the  public  good.  Any  unprejudiced  critic  will  find 
after  an  impartial  examination,  that  we  have  success- 
fully created  a  condition  which  demonstrates  that 
the  Filipino  people,  in  managing  their  own  affairs,  can 
maintain  law  and  order,  and  afford  equal  protection  to 
all,  whether  foreigners  or  nationals. 

Despite  the  party  struggles  that  precede  the  elec- 
tions, particularly  those  that  attended  the  first  gen- 
eral election  held  on  the  occasion  of  the  inauguration 
of  the  Philippine  Assembly,  the  work  of  that  body 


APPENDICES  191 

and  that  of  the  present  purely  elective  legislature 
which  succeeded  it,  show  that  there  exists  in  these  is- 
lands a  strong  and  complete  national  unity  which 
places  general  inerests  above  petty  local  partisanships. 
In  our  budget  system  successfully  implanted  since 
both  Houses  became  elective,  no  costly  extravagance, 
local  selfishness  or  ' '  log-rolling  ' '  and  ' '  pork  barrel  ' ' 
practices  find  any  place.  Our  financial  system  and 
the  appearance  of  cabinet  members  before  the  Houses 
of  the  Legislature  have  effected  a  coordination  of 
forces  and  leadership  which  has  promoted  the  ef- 
ficiency of  the  administration  and  assured  its  respon- 
sibility to  the  people.  The  stability  of  the  present 
government,  managed  almost  entirely  by  Filipinos, 
has  been  put  to  a  test  not  only  by  the  extension  of 
its  authority  to  all  the  remote  districts  of  the  islands 
inhabited  by  Mohammedans  and  other  non-Christian 
Filipinos,  where,  as  in  the  rest  of  the  country,  there 
now  reigns  perfect  order  maintained  by  civil  officers, 
but  also  by  the  uninterrupted  maintenance  of  a  com- 
plete state  of  peace,  order  and  security  during  the 
recent  war  which  devastated  the  fields  of  Europe 
and  sowed  the  seed  of  restlessness  and  discontent 
throughout  the  world. 

As  an  evidence  of  the  appreciation  of  the  high  pur- 
poses and  disinterested  work  of  the  Americans  who 
have  aided  the  Filipinos,  all  useful  public  institutions 
in  existence  at  the  inauguration  of  the  Philippine  As- 
sembly in  1907  have  been  preserved  and  perfected. 
Notwithstanding  the  policy  of  Filipinization  im- 
planted by  President  McKinley,  no  American  em- 


192       SELF-GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

ployee  in  sympathy  with  this  country  and  with  the 
common  work  carried  on  has  been  retired  from  the 
service  against  his  will  and  without  an  equitable  com- 
pensation. It  must  be  a  source  of  legitimate  pride 
and  satisfaction  to  every  American  to  know  that  the 
noble  and  humanitarian  purposes  expressed  by  Presi- 
dent McKinley  and  his  successors  in  their  instructions, 
messages,  and  other  official  documents  as  the  reason 
for  American  occupation  have  been  successfully  at- 
tained by  the  united  and  harmonious  effort  of  Ameri- 
cans and  Filipinos. 

Now,  in  applying  the  principles  enunciated  in  docu- 
ments and  utterances  on  the  Philippines  to  the  con- 
ditions now  existing  in  the  Islands,  the  Commission  of 
Independence  will  find  the  following  facts : 

That  there  exist  at  present  in  the  Philippine  Islands 
the  conditions  of  order  and  government  which  Amer- 
ica has  for  nearly  a  century  and  a  half  required  in 
all  cases  in  which  she  has  recognized  the  independence 
of  a  country  or  the  establishment  of  a  new  govern- 
ment, not  even  excepting  the  case  of  General  Huer- 
ta's  government  in  Mexico,  which  she  refused  to  recog- 
nize because  it  was  stained  with  blood  and  founded  on 
intrigue,  violence  and  crime. 

That  there  exist  likewise  in  the  Philippines  all  the 
conditions  of  stability  and  guaranties  for  law  and 
order  that  Cuba  had  to  establish  to  the  satisfaction 
of  America  in  order  to  obtain  her  independence,  or 
to  preserve  it,  during  the  military  occupation  of  1898- 
1902  and  during  the  intervention  of  1906-1909,  respec- 
tively ; 


APPENDICES  193 

That  the  "  preparation  for  independence  "  and  the 
"  stable  government  "  required  by  President  Wilson 
and  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  respectively, 
contain  no  new  requisites  not  included  in  any  of  the 
cases  above  cited; 

That  these  prerequisites  for  Philippine  independ- 
ence are  the  same  as  those  virtually  or  expressly  es- 
tablished by  the  Republican  administrations  that 
preceded  President  Wilson's  administration; 

That  during  the  entire  time  that  the  Filipino  people 
have  been  with  America,  they  have  been  living  in  the 
confidence  that  the  American  occupation  was  only  tem- 
porary and  that  its  final  aim  was  not  aggrandizement 
or  conquest,  but  the  peace,  welfare,  and  liberty  of  the 
Filipino  people ; 

That  this  faith  in  the  promises  of  America  was  a 
cardinal  factor  not  only  in  the  cooperation  between 
Americans  and  Filipinos  during  the  years  of  peace, 
but  also  in  the  cooperation  between  Americans  and 
Filipinos  during  the  late  war ; 

That  the  condition  of  thorough  development  of  the 
internal  affairs  of  the  country  and  the  present  inter- 
national atmosphere  of  justice,  liberty,  and  security 
for  all  peoples  are  the  most  propitious  for  the  fulfill- 
ment by  America  of  her  promises  and  for  her  redemp- 
tion of  the  pledges  she  has  made  before  the  world. 

In  the  light  of  these  facts  and  considerations,  the 
Filipino  people  are  confident  that  it  will  be  possible 
to  arrive  at  a  satisfactory  final  decision,  as  we  deal 
no  longer  with  a  disputed  question,  but  are  merely 
endeavoring  to  agree  upon  the  final  adjustment  of  a 


194        SELF-GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

matter  with  regard  to  which,  according  to  President 
Wilson's  words,  there  exists,  so  far  as  fundamentals 
are  concerned,  ' '  a  perfect  harmony  of  ideals  and  feel- 
ings "  between  the  governments  of  the  United  States 
and  the  Philippine  Islands,  which  harmony  has 
brought  about  "  that  real  friendship  and  mutual  sup- 
port which  is  the  foundation  of  all  sound  political 
policy  "  (November  29,  1918). 

Therefore,  so  far  as  it  is  humanly  possible  to  judge 
and  say,  we  can  see  only  one  aim  for  the  Commission 
of  Independence :  independence ;  and  we  can  give  only 
one  instruction:  to  get  it.  Thus  America,  in  adding 
another  glory  to  her  banner  by  establishing  the  first 
really  democratic  republic  in  the  East  will  apply  a 
second  time,  generously  and  freely,  the  same  measure 
of  humanity  and  justice  that  she  applied  in  the  case  of 
Cuba,  which  is  but  a  logical  and  natural  sequence  of 
the  immortal  principles  of  the  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence. This  Declaration,  which  belongs  to  all  hu- 
manity, has  now  as  much  force  as  it  had  in  the  days 
when  America  proclaimed  it.  America  will  thus  vin- 
dicate the  memory  of  President  McKinley,  to  whom 
the  "  forcible  annexation  "  of  peoples  meant  "  crim- 
inal aggression  ' '  and  who,  upon  taking  over  the  Phil- 
ippines "  for  high  duty  in  the  interest  of  their  in- 
habitants and  for  humanity  and  civilization  "  sol- 
emnly said:  "  Our  sacrifices  were  with  this  high 
motive.  We  want  to  improve  the  condition  of  the  in- 
habitants, securing  them  peace,  liberty,  and  the  pur- 
suit of  their  highest  good." 

Thus,  finally,  America  will  carry  out  the  efforts 


APPENDICES  195 

and  assurances  of  President  Wilson  when,  upon  the 
signing  of  the  armistice,  he  said  to  the  Filipinos :  "I 
hope  and  believe  that  the  future  holds  brighter  hope 
for  the  states  which  have  heretofore  been  the  prey  of 
great  powers  and  will  realize  for  all  the  world  the 
offers  of  justice  and  peace  which  have  prompted  the 
magnificent  cooperation  of  the  present  war."  (No- 
vember 29,  1918.) 

The  Filipinos  will  thus  have  a  better  opportunity 
to  demonstrate  how  deeply  rooted  is  their  gratitude  for 
America  when,  after  her  voluntary  withdrawal  from 
these  Islands,  we  preserve  here  the  immortal  spirit  of 
her  democratic  institutions  and  associate  with  her  in 
her  future  enterprises  of  justice  and  peace  in  carry- 
ing to  the  darkest  corners  of  the  earth,  which  lack 
happiness  because  their  people  do  not  control  their 
own  destinies,  the  quickening  flame  of  justice,  democ- 
racy, and  liberty. 


APPENDIX  C 

INSTRUCTIONS  FROM  THE  COMMISSION  OF 
INDEPENDENCE  TO  THE  PHILIPPINE 
MISSION 

Manila,  March  17,  1919. 

By  authority  of  the  Philippine  Legislature  and  act- 
ing under  its  instructions,  the  Commission  of  Inde- 
pendence has  resolved  that  the  following  statement  be 
sent  to  the  Philippine  Mission : 

The  Philippine  Mission  will  please  convey  to  the 
Government  of  the  United  States  the  frankest  assur- 
ances of  the  good-will,  friendship,  and  gratitude  of 
the  Filipino  people  and  submit  with  as  much  respect 
as  confidence  the  question  of  Philippine  Independence 
with  a  view  to  its  final  settlement.  The  attention  of 
the  Government  of  the  United  States  is  respectfully 
invited  to  the  summary  of  facts  and  propositions  con- 
sidered in  the  declaration  of  purposes  approved  by  the 
Philippine  Legislature  on  March  8th,  1919. 

It  is  singularly  fortunate  for  the  Philippine  Nation 
that  there  seems  to  be  no  controversy  concerning  either 
the  pertinent  principles  or  the  capital  facts  of  the 
matter.  The  Filipinos  venture  to  believe  that  all 
that  is  necessary  is  a  frank  exchange  of  views  in  order 
to  arrive  in  a  prompt  and  satisfactory  manner  at  a 
definite  adjustment  of  details  which  will  result  in  the 
complete  and  final  execution  of  the  plans  outlined,  in 

196 


APPENDICES  197 

accordance  with  the  principles  already  established  and 
agreed  upon. 

It  is  well  known  that  these  principles  are  so  old 
that  many  of  them,  and  one  may  even  say  all  of  them, 
substantially  already  found  faithful  expression  in 
the  immortal  days  of  1776  when  in  the  New  World  a 
people  smaller  and  with  less  resources  than  the  Fili- 
pino people  entered  upon  the  fearless  undertaking  of 
establishing  a  new  government  founded  upon  the  prop- 
osition that  its  just  powers  were  derived  not  from  the 
will  of  Monarchs,  but  from  the  consent  of  the  gov- 
erned. It  was  not  the  first  time  that  a  people  threw 
off  the  yoke  of  a  foreign  government;  but  it  was  the 
first  case  in  which  a  people  dissatisfied  with  the  po- 
litical bonds  which  had  connected  them  with  their 
former  sovereign,  invoking  the  laws  of  God  and  of 
Nature  established  the  principles  of  liberty  and  jus- 
tice, not  only  for  themselves,  but  also  for  the  other 
subject  peoples  of  the  world. 

Having  lived  for  over  two  decades  side  by  side  with 
the  people  of  the  United  States,  the  Filipino  people 
have  become  convinced  that  those  principles  are 
now  as  real  and  powerful  as  in  the  days  when  they 
were  proclaimed.  Although  it  has  not  been  possible 
to  avoid  certain  isolated  expressions  made  in  apparent 
violation  of  those  principles,  yet  it  cannot  be  denied 
that  the  only  authorized  declarations  regarding  the 
American  policy  in  these  Islands  have  been  specific  and 
decisive  and  having  been  reiterated  from  time  to 
time  have  led  the  Filipino  people  to  believe,  as  they 
have  with  good  reason  believed,  that  the  purposes  of 


198        SELF-GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

America  were  not  of  domination  or  self-aggrandize- 
ment, but  of  altruism,  humanity,  and  liberty. 

On  the  basis  of  this  understanding,  the  attitude  of 
the  Filipinos  has  been  one  of  confident  waiting.  Bus- 
ily engaged  in  the  reconstruction  that  necessarily  fol- 
lowed the  war  as  well  as  in  the  reaffirmation  of  their 
personality,  the  Filipino  people  have  exercised  the  po- 
litical powers  conferred  upon  them  as  best  they  knew, 
first  giving  their  loyal  and  peaceful  cooperation  and 
subsequently  assuming  an  almost  complete  control  of 
their  internal  affairs.  Their  national  record  of  over 
twenty  years  from  the  first  day  of  American  occupa- 
tion until  the  present  is  a  living  example  of  what  they 
have  done  and  is  now  unhesitatingly  submitted  to  the 
examination  and  criticism  of  the  world. 

Moreover,  the  triumph  of  democracy  in  the  moral 
and  political  revaluation  of  human  institutions 
through  the  recent  war  has  infused  new  life  into  the 
principles  enunciated  in  1776  and  in  fact  has  con- 
firmed and  ratified  the  promises  of  1916.  The  Filipino 
people,  seeing  their  own  cause  involved  in  the  cause  of 
the  United  States  in  that  war,  gave  their  support  to 
the  same.  They  not  only  placed  all  their  modest 
energies  and  resources  at  the  service  of  America,  but 
in  the  spirit  of  a  real  and  active  community  of  ideals 
and  interests  they  resolutely  assumed  the  interna- 
tional responsibilities  of  that  country  in  the  Philip- 
pines. It  will  not  be  amiss  to  say  now  that  during 
all  that  time  of  commotion  and  restlessness  the  public 
order  was  maintained  here  as  perfectly  as  in  the  pre- 
ceding years  and  the  American  flag  continued  to  float 


APPENDICES  199 

undisturbed  not  because  it  was  supported  by  a  mili- 
tary force  of  which  there  was  hardly  any,  but  be- 
cause of  the  loyal  and  vigilant  allegiance  of  the  Fili- 
pinos. 

Now  that  the  war  is  over  and  the  world  is  engaged 
in  applying  in  the  concrete  the  principles  that  have 
come  out  triumphant  from  it;  now  that  the  Filipino 
people  have  passed  the  tests  to  which  their  capacity 
has  been  submitted:  Can  it  be  deemed  inopportune 
or  ill-advised  for  them  to  submit  the  pending  question 
to  the  United  States,  or  even  to  any  other  competent 
tribunal  of  the  world  for  its  final  adjustment?  The 
problem  being  so  varied  in  its  aspects,  the  Filipino 
people  will  welcome  an  opportunity  to  discuss  the 
terms  of  the  concession  of  Independence  and  the  scope 
of  the  covenants  necessary  for  the  guaranty,  safety 
and  stability  of  the  new  State  and  for  the  establish- 
ment and  maintenance  of  such  external  relations,  espe- 
cially with  America,  as  may  be  equitable  and  bene- 
ficial and  as  the  circumstances  may  demand.  In  this 
respect  they  cannot  but  be  guided  by  the  spirit  of  the 
steps  previously  taken  with  the  Government  of  the 
United  States,  especially  by  the  reason  of  mutual  un- 
derstanding and  benefit  that  were  taken  into  account 
when  the  Independence  Bill  of  1914  was  drafted.  In- 
asmuch as  the  situation  of  the  international  affairs  has 
been  altered  by  the  irresistible  force  of  the  principles 
consecrated  by  the  recent  war,  it  is  evident  that  the 
plan  contained  in  that  bill  can  not  be  carried  into  effect 
without  certain  suitable  revisions.  One  of  them  is 
that  inasmuch  as  the  Filipino  people  believe  in  the 


200       SELF-GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

efficacy  of  a  general  concert  of  responsible  powers  es- 
tablished for  the  common  cause  of  justice  and  the 
preservation  of  the  peace  of  the  world,  they  would  be 
ready  to  agree  to  any  arrangement  by  which  the 
Philippines  would  be  enabled  to  participate  in  the 
concert  as  soon  as  possible. 

The  Filipino  people  would  not  be  just  to  themselves 
if,  at  this  moment  when  their  political  separation 
from  the  sovereign  country  is  being  proposed,  they 
should  fail  to  express  in  the  clearest  and  most  definite 
manner  the  sentiments  and  purposes  that  inspire  their 
action.  They  therefore  deem  it  their  duty  to  affirm: 
That  Independence,  instead  of  destroying  or  weaken- 
ing, will  tend  to  strengthen  the  bonds  of  friendship 
and  appreciation  created  by  the  gratitude  of  the 
Filipino  people,  not  only  for  the  final  measure  of 
complete  justice  and  humanity  that  they  confidently 
expect,  but  for  all  the  previous  disinterested  work  so 
splendidly  performed  for  the  benefit  of  the  Philip- 
pines by  so  many  faithful  sons  and  daughters  of  Amer- 
ica; that  this  gratitude  will  be  the  first  fundamental 
fact  in  the  future  relations  between  the  United  States 
and  the  Philippine  Islands ;  that  in  the  present  state  of 
the  international  affairs  the  Filipino  people  merely 
aspire  to  become  another  conscious  and  direct  instru- 
ment for  the  progress  of  liberty  and  civilization ;  that 
in  the  tranquil  course  of  their  years  of  constitutional 
development  they  will  maintain  for  all  people  inhabit- 
ing their  hospitable  land  the  essence  and  benefit  of 
democratic  institutions;  that  they  will  continue  to 
associate,  in  so  far  as  this  will  be  acceptable  and  their 


APPENDICES  201 

strength  will  permit,  in  the  work  of  reconstruction, 
justice,  and  peace  carried  on  by  the  United  States 
in  continuation  of  those  other  undertakings,  the  high 
purpose  of  which  was  the  cause,  according  to  President 
Wilson,  "  of  the  magnificent  cooperation  between  the 
American  and  Filipino  peoples  during  the  war  "; 
and,  finally,  that  in  thus  preserving  their  best  tra- 
ditions and  institutions  in  the  new  situation  which 
will  strengthen  and  perfect  them,  the  Filipino  people 
will  continue  to  make  this  country  as  heretofore  a  safe 
place  of  law  and  order,  Justice  and  Liberty  where 
Americans  and  foreigners  as  well  as  Nationals  may 
live  peacefully  in  the  pursuit  of  happiness  and  pros- 
perity and  safe  in  the  enjoyment  of  their  property 
as  well  as  of  their  rights  and  their  liberty. 

SERGIO  OSMENA, 
Speaker,  House  of  Representatives. 

ESPIRIDION  QUANGO, 
Acting  President,  Philippine  Senate. 


THE  END 


INDEX 


Abbott,  James  A.,  on  Filipino 
subjugation,  163,  164;  on 
Japanese  colonization  of 
Formosa,  164;  on  Japan- 
ese expansion  in  Korea  and 
Manchuria,  165. 

Act,  land  settlement,  of  Cal- 
ifornia, 89. 

Acts,  of  Congress  of  U.  S.: 
Organic  (1902),  9,  29,  44, 
151;  Jones  law,  references 
to,  14,  25,  27,  28,  29,  32,  34, 
36,  39,  40,  51,  52,  72,  77, 
110,  125,  127,  143,  151,  177, 
178,  181;  Approved  by  Re- 
publicans and  Democrats, 
15;  Clarke  amendment  to, 
14;  attitude  of  Republicans 
on,  14;  Passed  by  House 
and  Senate,  15;  Authoriza- 
tion to  President  to  call 
Philippine  National  Guard 
into  federal  service,  63; 
Law  making  scouts  officers 
and  enlisted  men  available 
for  National  Guard,  64. 

Acts,  of  Philippine  legisla- 
ture :  Miscellaneous,  passed 
between  Apr.  3,  1915,  and 
Feb.  24,  1916:  48,  49,  50; 
Nos.  2501,  95,  96;  No. 


2586,  96;  Nos.  2396,  2406, 
2413,  2417,  2522,  2539, 
2545,  2658,  2662,  2664: 
97;  No.  2156,  105;  NOB. 
2208,  2404,  2444:  110;  No. 
2674,  111;  Administrative 
code,  94,  99,  100;  Concur- 
rent resolution  No  7:  144; 
Concurrent  resolution  No. 
11:  147;  Of  Philippine 
Commission,  Acts  Nos.  82, 
83:  94. 

Adams,  Secretary,  on  inde- 
pendence of  Venezuela,  132. 

Agricultural  possibilities  in 
Philippines,  175. 

Appropriations,  for  schools, 
104;  for  roads,  bridges  and 
ferries,  106;  for  non-Chris- 
tians, 120;  for  artesian 
wells,  107 ;  miscellaneous, 
48,  49,  50;  also  see  Acts. 

Artesian  wells,  number  of, 
87;  expenditures  for,  107. 

Assembly,  national,  in  1907, 
21;  speaker  of,  21,  22,  25; 
limited  power  of,  23;  unity 
of  leadership  in,  24. 


B 


Bagehot,     statement     of,     on 
English  government,  39,  40. 


203 


204 


INDEX 


Bailey,  General,  approval  of 
Philippine  National  Guard, 
64. 

Baker,  Newton  D.,  Secretary 
of  War,  on  Filipino  auton- 
omy, 42 ;  on  Philippine  gov- 
ernment, 42;  on  Filipino 
self-restraint,  70,  71. 

Benito,  Datu,  appointment  of, 
125,  126. 

Bills,  appropriation,  initia- 
tion of,  46;  list  of,  48,  49, 
50. 

Board,  provincial,  constitu- 
tion of,  95,  97. 

Bryan,  Wm.  J.,  on  stable  gov- 
ernment, 141,  142 

Budget,  showing  state  of 
finances,  58. 

Budget  system,  origin  of,  44; 
consideration  of,  51 ;  ap- 
proval of,  55;  importance 
of,  56 

Buildings,  public,  expendi- 
tures for,  106,  107. 

Butu,  Senator  Hadji,  118;  ap- 
pointment of,  125,  126; 
statement  of,  128 


Cabinet,  Philippine,  on  prepa- 
ration of  budget,  54. 

Capital,  American  and  other, 
in  Philippines,  82,  90,  91. 

Carpenter,  Frank  W.,  state- 
ment of,  127. 

Cases,  administrative,  against 
municipal  officials,  100, 
101. 


Central  Luzon  agricultural 
school,  116. 

Church  and  state,  separation 
of,  in  Moro  country,  121  to 
128,  inclusive. 

Cigar  factories,  in  Philip- 
pines, 86. 

Clarke  amendment,  relation 
of,  to  Jones  bill,  14;  atti- 
tude of  Republicans  on,  14; 
passed  by  Senate,  15;  also 
see  Acts. 

Claudio,  Tomas,  service  of, 
61. 

Coal,  in  Philippines,  88;  Na- 
tional Coal  Company,  88. 

Cocoanut  oil,  85. 

Colonial  government,  Ameri- 
can, in  Philippines,  18  et 
seq. 

Commerce,  foreign,  1913  and 
1918,  78,  79,  80,  81,  82. 

Commercial  possibilities,  in 
Philippines,  90,  91,  175, 
176. 

Commission  of  Independence, 
special  instructions  of,  for 
guidance  of  Philippine  Mis- 
sion, See  Appendix  C,  196, 
197,  198,  199,  200,  201. 

Commissioners,  Resident,  to 
the  United  States,  9;  work 
of,  on  Jones  law,  16. 

Constitution,  Malolos,  on  sov- 
ereignty, 171. 

Corporations,  domestic,  in 
Philippines,  82. 

Cotabato,  valley  of,  agricul- 
tural possibilities  of,  175. 

Council  of  State,  purpose,  37, 


INDEX 


205 


38;   composition  of,  37,  38, 
41;   first  action  of,  38,  39; 
preparation    of    budget    by, 
54,  56. 
Crow,  Carl,  statement  of,  163. 


D 


Davao,  Japanese  immigration 
to,  164. 

Debt,  national,  amount  of, 
57. 

Declaration  of  Purposes,  of 
Philippine  Legislature,  for 
Independence  Commission, 
See  Appendix  B,  183  to  195, 
inclusive. 


E 


Economic  development,  in 
Philippines,  76  to  91,  inclu- 
sive. 

Education,  Bureau  of,  for 
food  production,  67,  68 ;  ap- 
propriations for,  104. 

Engineering  companies,  in 
Philippines,  84. 

Evans,  General  R.  K.,  rela- 
tion of,  to  National  Guard, 
63 ;  criticisms  of,  63,  64,  65, 
66. 

F 

Filipino  people,  loyalty  of, 
during  war,  59,  60,  61,  69, 
70,  71;  destroyer  and  sub- 
marine offered  by,  to  U.  S., 
60;  liberty  bonds  taken  by, 
60;  Red  Cross  work  by,  60, 


61;  services  offered  by,  61; 
self-restraint  of,  69,  70,  71; 
progress  of,  107,  108. 

Filipino  women,  position  of, 
in  Orient,  173;  education 
of,  174;  number  of  girls  en- 
rolled in  primary  and  inter- 
mediate grades,  174;  posi- 
tions occupied  by,  174; 
women's  clubs,  68,  174;  in- 
fluence of,  173,  174,  175; 
Emma  Sarepta  Yule  on, 
173,  174,  175. 

Finance,  Department  of,  in 
preparation  of  budget,  53, 
54,  55. 

Formosa,  Japanese  coloniza- 
tion in,  164. 

Freedom,  Filipino  desire  for, 
178. 

Frontier  problems  of  Philip- 
pines, Asia,  Siain,  India 
and  China,  159,  160,  161. 

G 

Governor-General,  position  of, 
under  Jones  law,  27 ;  state- 
ment of,  on  Filipino  auton- 
omy, 41 ;  budget  powers  of, 
45,  46,  52;  complaint  of,  to 
Secretary  of  War,  against 
Gen.  Evans,  65;  declaration 
of,  on  capacity  Filipino  peo- 
ple, 149,  153,  154. 

Grant,  President,  statement 
of,  on  stable  government, 
130,  131. 

Greene,  General,  relief  of 
General  Evans  by,  65. 


206 


INDEX 


Harrison,  Governor-General 
Francis  Burton,  statement 
of,  28,  42;  message  of,  on 
fiscal  matters,  47;  on  for- 
mation of  budget,  52,  53 ; 
on  finances,  56,  57;  letter 
of,  to  Gen.  Evans,  64;  on 
Filipino  capacity,  149,  153, 
154. 

Health  Service,  Philippine, 
90. 

Home  owners,  per  cent  of,  in 
Philippines,  172. 


Imports  and  exports,  of  Phil- 
ippines, 77,  78,  79,  80,  81. 

Independence,  Philippine : 
The  Democratic  Party  on, 
5,  142-143;  Root  on,  12; 
Roosevelt  on,  12;  Taft  on, 
12;  Wilson  on,  13;  Jones 
Law,  a  covenant,  16,  17; 
Clarke  Amendment,  atti- 
tude of  Republicans  on,  14; 
Filipinos  restrained  move- 
ment for,  during  war,  70; 
self-determination,  71,  72; 
Philippine  Mission  for,  89; 
Non-Christian  tribes  and 
attitude  of  labor  toward, 
89,  126,  128;  stable  gov- 
ernment, prerequisite  to, 
119  et  seq. ;  Commission  of 
Independence,  144,  158, 
177;  Instructions  to,  146; 
Philippine  Mission  to 


United  States  for  Independ- 
ence, 147,  148;  Governor 
General  Harrison  on,  153; 
Japan  and,  161  et  seq. 

Insurance  companies,  in  Phil- 
ippines, 84. 

lyenaga,  Dr.,  on  Japan's  atti- 
tude toward  Philippines, 
165,  166. 


Jackson,  President,  message 
of,  on  independence  of 
Texas,  133,  134. 

Japanese,  subjugation  of  Fil- 
ipinos by,  163,  164;  in  Ko- 
rea, 165;  in  Manchuria, 
165;  attitude  toward  Phil- 
ippines, 165,  166;  Philip- 
pine attitude  toward,  167; 
reverence  to  Mikado,  169, 
170. 

Jones,  Representative  Wil- 
liam Atkinson,  statement  of 
on  Jones  law,  16,  17. 

Jones,  General  R.  W.,  on  na- 
tional guard,  63;  statement 
of,  on  relief  of  General 
Evans,  65,  66. 

Jones  bill,  date  of  passage,  3 ; 
relation  of,  to  Jones  law, 
15. 

Jones  law,  effect  of,  on  Fili- 
pino-American relationship, 
14;  preamble  of,  14;  pre- 
amble complete,  See  Appen- 
dix A,  181 ;  sanction  of,  by 
American  people,  15;  as 
compact  between  Filipino 


INDEX 


207 


and  American  peoples,  16, 
40;  purpose  of,  40;  depart- 
ments created  by,  35;  Sec- 
tion 21  of,  52;  on  Moro 
problem,  110. 

Judiciary,  composition  of,  39 ; 
non-political  character  of. 

K 

Kawakami,  K.,  on  Japan's 
desire  to  acquire  Philip- 
pines, 166. 

Koran,  use  of,  116. 

Korea,  annexation  of,  by 
Japan,  160;  number  of  Jap- 
anese in,  165. 


Labor,  Bureau  of,  creation  of, 
88,  89;  directors  of,  89. 

Laborers,  Philippine,  parade 
of,  69. 

Legislature,  Philippine,  ( See 
Acts)  rivalry  between  two 
houses  of,  33;  harmony  be- 
tween two  houses  of,  33; 
system  of  calling  depart- 
ment heads  before,  33,  34, 
35;  resolution  of,  on  grati- 
tude to  U.  S.,  73,  74. 

Leper  colony,  Culion,  90. 

Literacy,  in  Philippines,   169. 

Local  government,  Filipiniza- 
tion  of,  92  to  108,  inclusive; 
success  of,  107,  108. 

Loyalty,  Filipino,  during  war, 
569  to  75,  inclusive. 


M 

Mabini,  Apolinario,  demo- 
cratic idea  of,  170,  171. 

Magoon,  Judge,  on  Cuban  in- 
stitution, 139,  140. 

Malolos,  constitution  adopted 
at,  171. 

Manchuria,  Japanese  in,  165. 

Manila  Railroad  Company, 
transfer  of,  to  Philippine 
government,  87. 

McKinley,  President  William, 
on  Philippine  conditions,  4 ; 
assertion  of,  on  Filipino  de- 
sire of  American  sover- 
eignty, 5;  answer  of,  to 
democrats  on  Philippine  in- 
dependence, 5,  6,  142 ;  on 
fundamental  aim  of  Ameri- 
can government,  11;  mes- 
sage of,  on  Cuban  situation, 
131,  134. 

Mediation,  between  Philip- 
pine capital  and  labor,  88, 
89. 

Memorials,  of  Moros  to  Phil- 
ippine legislature,  126. 

Mercantile  import  and  export 
companies,  in  Philippines, 
84,  85. 

Mikado,  reverence  of  Japan- 
ese toward,  169,  170. 

Militia,  Philippine,  organiza- 
tion of,  61,  62 

Mindanao  and  Sulu,  Depart- 
ment of,  organization  and 
government  of,  schools  in, 
113,  114,  115,  116,  117,  118, 


208 


INDEX 


Monetary     circulation,     1913 

and   1918,  81. 
Moros,    civilization    of,    120; 

separation    of    church    and 

state,  121  to  128  inclusive; 

memorial  of,  to  Philippine 

legislature,  126. 
Municipalities,  number  of,  93. 


N 

Nacionalista  party,  as  party 
in  power,  33;  president  of, 
33. 

National  debt,  amount  of,  57. 

National  Development  Com- 
pany, creation  of,  88. 

National  guard,  men  enrolled 
in,  62;  law  of  acceptance 
of,  63;  delay  in  the  or- 
ganization of,  62,  63,  64, 
65. 

New  York  Herald,  statement 
of  an  American  correspond- 
ent to,  as  to  Philippine  in- 
dependence policy,  76,  77. 

Nitobe,  Dr.,  on  Japan's  pol- 
icy toward  Philippines,  162, 
163. 

Non-Christian  tribes,  109 ; 
policy  of  Philippine  Com- 
mission and  Philippine  leg- 
islature toward,  111,  112, 
119;  education  and  sani- 
tary systems  for,  112,  113; 
schools  for,  113,  114,  115, 
116;  public  works  for,  118, 
119;  agriculture  in,  119, 
120. 


Officers'  school,  organization 
of,  63,  64,  66. 

Orosa,  Dr.  Sixto,  work  among 
non-Christians,  118. 

Osmena,  Speaker  Sergio, 
statement  of,  accepting 
Jones  law,  17;  leadership 
and  ability  of,  33,  36;  as 
Vice-President  of  Council  of 
State,  38. 

Okuma,  Count,  on  Japan's 
purposes,  166. 


Palma,  Senator  Rafael,  on  de- 
partment heads,  34,  35;  as 
Vice-President  Philippine 
Mission,  147. 

Paris  Peace  conference,  prob- 
lems before,  160,  161. 

Partnerships,  domestic,  in 
Philippines,  number  of,  82. 

Perry,  Commodore,  relation 
to  Japan's  development  and 
success,  180. 

Philippine  National  Bank,  or- 
ganization and  resources 
of,  81,  83. 

Philippine  News  Review,  pur- 
pose of,  67. 

Philippines,  population  of, 
109;  non-Christians  in, 
109;  geographical  position 
of,  160,  161;  area  of,  175; 
undeveloped  resources  of, 
175;  possibilities  of,  175, 
176. 


INDEX 


209 


Piang,  Datu,  appointment  of, 
125,  126. 

Platform,  Democratic,  on  sta- 
ble government,  143. 

Political  leaders,  in  Philip- 
pines, 171. 

Provinces,  number  of,  92;  di- 
vision of,  92,  73;  acts  gov- 
erning, 94,  95,  96;  super- 
vision of,  98,  99,  100;  rev- 
enues of,  101. 


Quezon,  Manuel  L.,  in  inaug- 
ural address,  as  President 
Philippine  Senate,  32;  on 
Secretaries'  responsibility, 
34;  views  of,  as  to  amount 
of  Filipino  autonomy,  41 ; 
offer  of,  to  U.  S.,  of  Fili- 
pinos' services  in  war,  62; 
speech  of,  before  American 
Secretary  of  War,  147,  148; 
leadership  and  ability  of, 
171. 

Railroads,  nationalization  of, 
87. 

Red  Cross,  Philippine  chap- 
ter, war  activities,  60,  61, 
68,  69. 

Reorganization  act,  its  scope, 
35. 

Revenues,  provincial,  101. 

Rizal,  Jose,  20,  60. 

Roads,  public,  1914  and  1918, 
86,  87,  106;  expenditures 
for,  87,  106. 

Roosevelt,  Vice-President,  on 


Filipino  civilization,  7 ;   hope 

of,  12. 
Root,    Elihu,    suggestion    of, 

137,  148,  149. 


S 


Sanitary  districts,  number  of, 
105,  106. 

Schools,  in  Philippines,  num- 
ber of,  103;  appropriations 
for,  104;  expenditures  for, 
in  non-Christian  tribes, 
112,  113,  114. 

Self-determination,  President 
Wilson  on,  71,  72. 

Senate,  Philippine,  creation 
of,  26;  powers  of,  26,  27, 
28;  statement  of  Governor- 
General  on,  28;  popular 
character  of,  32,  33. 

Shipping  companies,  in  Phil- 
ippines, 84,  85. 

Spain,  political  service  of,  to 
Philippines,  19 ;  campaign 
in  for  Philippine  reforms, 
20. 

Stable  government,  defined, 
129  to  136,  inclusive;  mean- 
ing of,  in  Texas,  133,  134; 
meaning  of,  in  Cuba,  130, 
131,  134  to  143,  inclusive; 
meaning  of,  in  Jones  law, 
141,  142,  143;  President 
McKinley,  on  meaning  of, 
134,  135;  existence  of,  in 
Philippines,  141,  149,  150, 
151,  152;  already  estab- 
lished in  Philippines,  151, 
152. 


210 


INDEX 


Sugar,  in  Philippines,  87,  88 ; 
Sugar  Central  board,  87, 
88;  investments  in,  by 
the  Philippine  government, 
88. 

Sulu,  Sultan  of,   122. 


Taft,  Wm.  H.,  on  President 
McKinley's  policies,  11;  as- 
sertion of,  as  Secretary  of 
War,  12;  message  of,  to 
Congress,  12;  statement  of, 
on  Cuban  election,  139, 
140;  on  contrast  of  Fili- 
pinos with  other  Malay  and 
Oriental  peoples,  168. 

Taxation,  in  Philippines,  1913 
and  1918,  81,  82. 

Trade,  Philippine,  1913  and 
1918,  77,  78,  79,  80;  table 
showing  foreign  trade  with 
Philippines,  79. 

Treaty  of  Paris,  on  Philippine 
Republic,  3;  on  decision  of 
America  have  all  islands  or 
none,  161. 


U 

Uyehara,  G.  E.,  on  Emperor 
of  Japan,  169,  170. 


Voters,  in  Philippines,   169. 
W 

Waloe,  Colonel  Ole,  memoran- 
dum of,  to  Department  sec- 
retary, 122,  123,  124,  125. 

Wells,  artesian,  1913  and 
1918,  87. 

Woman's  Club  of  Manila, 
campaign  of,  for  food  pro- 
duction, 68. 

Wilson,  President  Woodrow, 
assurances  of,  on  Philip- 
pine independence,  13; 
statements  of,  on  American 
purposes  in  war,  71,  72; 
answer  of,  to  resolution  of 
gratitude  of  Philippine  leg- 
islature, 74,  75;  speech  of, 
at  Staunton,  Va.,  76;  reply 
of,  to  Philippine  Mission, 
156,  157. 

Wood,  General  Leonard,  on 
Cuban  constitution,  136, 
137. 

Y 

Yeater,  Vice-Governor  C.  E., 
statement  of,  on  Filipino 
capacity,  154,  155,  156. 

Yule,  Emma  Sarepta,  on  Fil- 
ipino women,  173,  174,  175. 


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